After not making the New York Islanders’ season-opening roster it was expected that forward Josh Ho-Sang was going to open the season in the AHL with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. So it was a bit of an eye-opener on Thursday when it was revealed by Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson that Ho-Sang was not with the team for its first practice and that he was taking a couple of days to collect himself.
As it turns out, he is looking for a trade.
Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello told Islanders beat writers on Thursday that Ho-Sang’s representation has asked for the team to trade him. He was placed on waivers on Monday but went unclaimed, clearing a path for him to report to the AHL.
At that point Lamoriello said (via Newsday) that he told Ho-Sang not report while the team explores its options.
If there is no trade to be made, Ho-Sang will at that point report to Bridgeport where he will be, in the words of Lamoriello (again, via Newsday’s Mike Rose and Andrew Gross) a “recallable player.”
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The 23-year-old Ho-Sang has had a rocky start to his career with the Islanders (and especially with the previous front office led by Garth Snow) but has at times flashed the talent that made him a highly touted first-round pick back in 2014. In 53 NHL games he has seven goals and 24 total points. Those are not bad numbers at all (it projects to 40 points over 82 games), especially given the role he has been asked to play when he has been at the NHL level.
By all accounts he had a very strong training camp for the Islanders. He was one of the last players cut before the start of the season.
One way or another his time with the Islanders seems to be coming to a close, and it always seemed that this was going to be one more make-or-break season for him and the organization. Given his talent, cheap cap hit, and likely low cost to acquire him there should be some interest in him around the league. It would make a ton of sense for a rebuilding team that is short on talent (like Ottawa, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Anaheim as just a couple of examples) to take a chance on a low-risk, potentially high-reward player. If it does not work, it probably does not cost you much. If it does, you are coming out as a big winner.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.