Unlike other teams, the New York Islanders have not released their training camp roster. We do know it will be made up of 21 forwards, 12 defensemen and four goalies, however, we’re left guessing at who will actually be participating in camp.
One surprise is that forward Josh Ho-Sang was not invited to New York’s training camp, as confirmed by general manager Lou Lamoriello.
The entire Islanders/Ho-Sang situation has been very strange. Ho-Sang had requested a trade last season but then wasn’t traded and was later assigned to the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. We assumed that may be the end of the Islanders’ relationship with the forward, however, the team decided issue a qualifying offer to Ho-Sang this summer, in order to retain his player rights. After that, the team signed him to a one-year deal, after Ho-Sang filed for arbitration.
So for the Islanders to give him a qualifying offer and then not even bring him to camp, where they invited 33 other skaters, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe he wouldn’t have been part of the team’s roster or taxi squad but it seems as though it would’ve at least been worth getting a better picture of where Ho-Sang’s game is at right now. Lou Lamoriello didn’t do much to clarify the situation either:
that it would be a roster plus a taxi squad of a max of four, minimum of six. When we went over our whole group as to who we felt had the best chance of making that four to six, he was not one of them. That was selected."
It’s time for the two sides to part ways and while it’s unlikely that Ho-Sang will be claimed off waivers, it would be nice to see him get a fresh start with a new team. We don’t know if he could have success at the NHL level and maybe he wouldn’t, but it seems clear the Islanders don’t see Ho-Sang as part of their future and hopefully, he gets a chance elsewhere.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Are you surprised that Josh Ho-Sang wasn't invited to New York's training camp?
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