New York Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello confirmed today that Josh Ho-Sang has asked for a trade, according to The Athletic’s Athur Staple. Speculation arose once the Bridgeport Sound Tigers held their practice and Ho-Sang was nowhere to be found.
It’s not surprising to see it come to this. Ho-Sang is now 23 years old and is running out of time. He’s in an organization where he’s unlikely to break through to the NHL and it’s likely a better move for him to try his luck elsewhere.
The problem here is that Ho-Sang’s value really couldn’t be much lower right now. He cleared waivers earlier in the week, so Lamoriello is going to have a real problem trying to negotiate from any kind of position of strength. It’s unfortunate to say but the realistic return is (maybe) a mid-round pick.
In a personal sense, if I was leading a different team, heading into camp I would have believed it would be worth giving up a third-round pick to bet on Ho-Sang turning out (but I also would’ve put in a waiver claim if I was, say, Edmonton, so that doesn’t mean too much). A potentially better move would be to deal him for a younger, mid-range prospect that the organization has done some scouting on. Whatever guy they wanted to try and get in the third or fourth round of a recent draft who got scooped up by a team before they could get a chance– go for him. While they may not have a high upside, maybe they turn out. There’s also the opportunity to move him for someone in a similar position, who’s struggling within their own organization or to package him as part of some sort of larger deal, which could actually make some sense. I wonder if those are really options though as this seems like a deal which will come pretty quickly based on Lamoriello telling Ho-Sang not to report to Bridgeport, so I doubt any complex deal is worked out within the next few days.
My problem with a trade here: the chances of winning any deal involving Ho-Sang are slim at best. Sure, his value is low but he’s still reasonably young. He has moments where you really do think he could succeed in the NHL but needs to round out his game. Say you trade him to a team like Ottawa who is able to provide him with an opportunity and he takes the chance and succeeds. Wouldn’t you look back on it as a poor decision to play a 32-year-old non-producer like Leo Komarov or a fourth-liner on an expiring contract like Matt Martin instead of him?
I get each has a role but I can’t help but think that if Ho-Sang gets a prolonged NHL chance, maybe that’s exactly what he needs to get his game on track. After all, he’s never played more than 22 games in an NHL season. He’s never going to be the team’s most reliable two-way forward but he could get to a point where the positives in his game far outweigh the negatives. I don’t know. Many will disagree (I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot between this blog and my Hurricanes posts) but I still maintain that Ho-Sang, given a real chance, could have some legitimate potential.
Unfortunately, this just looks like a no-win situation for the Islanders at this point. The whole league knows Lamoriello's hand and it's not a good one. If this was the route the organization thought they’d be going with Ho-Sang, they should have moved him a year or two ago to get a half-decent return. I realize they were probably just hoping he would turn out but I do hold the belief that he was never given the chance he needed. I don’t know that he necessarily played well enough to earn a spot but my stream of thought here is that once it gets to this point of almost giving him away, why not get him in for a 30-game stint to let him prove you either right or wrong?
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