[sureLoss]

Sounds like Ho-Sang isn't long for the Islanders' organization. I do wonder if he is too unique a personality for the NHL.

Josh Ho-Sang: New Islanders regime burying me, even in minors

https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/josh-h...site%20buttons

Here is what Ho-Sang will say about Islanders training camp in September, the first one run by team president Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz, which ended with the offensively dynamic winger getting sent to AHL Bridgeport after what he felt wasn’t much of a look during preseason.

“I felt like they had their minds made up on what was going to happen and what the team was going to look like,” Ho-Sang said. “It’s OK. They had the whole summer to plan that. I don’t know if you watched any of the games, but I didn’t play a lot. It’s OK. It is what it is.”

Ho-Sang went on a lengthy explanation about how he respects Lamoriello and thinks he’s “a great man,” adding: “Lou has his morals, and you don’t have to agree with them, but those aren’t going to change.” Yet he also felt something similar was happening to him under coach Brent Thompson in Bridgeport, where he isn’t on the first power-play unit and doesn’t feel like he is getting ample playing time.

“They tell me they want me to be a top-six forward up there, but I’m not a top-six forward down here, so it’s confusing,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s like you’re sprinting with a rubber band on. You constantly have tension. You run until you’re exhausted and then the band is going to pull you back. If I was going to say anything, it would be just watch. I’m just pointing it out.”

The AHL doesn’t publish ice time, but it did seem as if Ho-Sang was getting ample opportunity — at least on Saturday night. His team was trailing for most of the game, which is probably why he was on the ice so much. And there were flashes when he was mesmerizing while rushing the puck up the ice, making a power-play zone-entry seem like a piece of cake with a little head fake.

But his play away from the puck is obviously lacking. Through nine games, he still doesn’t have a goal, and his four assists go along with an unsightly minus-8 rating.

“Big upside,” Thompson said. “Obviously you see his skill set. He has to learn when is the right time to use that and when is the right time to make the simple play and be a little predictable for his teammate.

“But if you were to project him to the NHL, listen, he’s a top-six guy, maybe a top-nine guy, especially if he cleans up his play away from the puck. When he has the puck, we want him to score, we want him to create, we want him to use his speed. That’s something that we encourage. It’s just that there are sometimes that time and situation dictates [otherwise], and it’s him learning when that is.”