Ladd focuses on enjoying playing hockey while contract up in air

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This article was published 23/02/2016 (3516 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Andrew Ladd says he’s had no active contract negotiations with the Winnipeg Jets since December and while he remains hopeful that a deal can still be reached, he’s accepted that a trade prior to Monday’s deadline could be imminent.

“I mean I guess I can kind of see the writing on the wall,” Ladd told reporters at MTS Centre Tuesday following the Jets morning skate. “But until I hear from them, I can’t completely confirm that.”

Tuesday night’s game against the Dallas Stars could be the last at MTS Centre for the Jets captain, a prospect he said he considered on the drive in to work this morning.

“I obviously hope it’s not but it has the potential to be my last. It’s kind of sad to think about, but it’s part of the gig, too,” said Ladd, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Ladd was unusually talkative on Tuesday about his contract situation. Here’s a sampling of some other things he had to say:

• On whether the uncertainty of his situation has gotten harder on him as the season has gone on:

“To be honest with you, it’s kind of gone the other way for me. The longer it’s gone on the more I’ve just kind of gone with the attitude that what’s going to happen is going to happen now. It’s kind of out of my control so I might as well just enjoy playing hockey with this group. Obviously I still want to be here for a long time. But if I’m not, that just wasn’t the plan and you have to deal with that when it comes.”

• On whether there’s been any new talks between the Jets and his agent this week:

“There isn’t any news either way.”

• On whether he’s disappointed it’s come to this:

“For sure. The whole year just hasn’t gone as anyone’s planned. You make the playoffs last year and you’re excited throughout the summer to come back and do that again and go even further.

“Personally, I didn’t get off to the start I wanted. And as a team, things haven’t gone the way we needed it to. There’s a lot of things that are disappointing. But you have to take your responsibility for your part in that too.”

• On a resurgence in his game that’s seen him score six goals in his last nine games:

“I feel like I’ve kind of gotten my quickness back since the (all-star) break. And maybe that quickness has given me a few more opportunities.”

• On the nature of any direct talks he’s had with Jets GM Kevin Cheveladayoff this season:

“It’s a weird vibe. But I haven’t really sat down and had a strong conversation with Kevin.”

Jets winger Blake Wheeler was blunt when asked Tuesday morning by reporters for his views on the uncertainty surrounding Ladd.

“It’s crazy to think we’ve gotten to this point. I never really imagined in a million years we’d be sitting here,” said Wheeler.

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“I’ll never have enough to say about what he’s meant to us in here. He’s dealt with a lot of things a lot of guys don’t really know about being the captain.”

The Jets will once again be without centre Bryan Little Tuesday night. Little skated with the club in a non-contact jersey on Tuesday and head coach Paul Maurice said afterward that he’s hopeful Little will be able to play on a two-game road trip this week that will see the Jets play in Dallas on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Ondrej Pavelec will get the start in net against the Stars.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek