Toronto gives Josh Ho-Sang a shot at getting his career back on track
The Toronto Maple Leafs have an agreement in place with controversial former first round draft pick Josh Ho-Sang. GM Kyle Dubas told reporters the Leafs have given Ho-Sang and professional tryout deal, meaning he will have to prove he can still go in training camp before getting an official contract.
Ho-Sang, who was taken 28th overall by the New York Islanders in 2014, was punished by the team for showing up late for practice. He also reportedly had some attitude problems dating back to his time in junior hockey. Ho-Sang went through waivers while with the Islanders, and the team attempted to find a trade partner for him, but there were no takers. Last season, Ho-Sang went to Europe, where he was cut by Örebro of the SHL after a five games for not being in game shape (not surprising as he had had no opportunity to play hockey for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic). He was then signed by Linkopings, and played four games for the team while recording two goals.
While drafted six years ago, Ho-Sang has managed just 53 games in the NHL, recording seven goals and 24 points. He has not played in the big league since the 2018-19 season. Partway through the AHL season in 2019-20, the Islanders farm club, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, decided to loan him to San Antonio without getting anything in return. Ho-Sang was not given a qualifying offer from the Islanders by Monday, meaning he became a free agent Wednesday. He was the second second first-rounder from 2014 not to receive a QO from the Isles this week.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nikita Kucherov | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evgeny Dadonov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Erik Gustafsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Patrick Kane | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marco Kasper | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Larkin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rickard Rakell | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lucas Raymond | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jaden Schwartz | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Moritz Seider | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Matthew Beniers | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | 1 | - | 1 | |
| J.T. Compher | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 43 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 61 | |
Jets | 44 | 29 | 12 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 42 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 59 | |
Wild | 43 | 27 | 12 | 4 | 58 | |
Maple Leafs | 44 | 27 | 15 | 2 | 56 | |
Devils | 45 | 26 | 15 | 4 | 56 | |
Stars | 41 | 27 | 13 | 1 | 55 | |
Oilers | 42 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 55 | |
Hurricanes | 43 | 26 | 15 | 2 | 54 | |
Kings | 40 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 53 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||