Former 1st round pick and top prospect retiring at just 27 years old

Former New York Islanders top prospect Josh Ho-Sang is reportedly considering retirement from professional hockey after playing just five games in the KHL.

According to a Russian-language report from Sport Express, the 27 year old Ho-Sang has informed Ufa Salavat Yulaev that he is discussing his situation with family and may end up retiring from professional hockey entirely. He played just one regular season game with the team last season until suffering a season ending injury. He underwent surgery and returned just in time to go scoreless in four Gagarin Cup Playoff games.

"Now he is thinking about ending his progressional (hockey) career," Salavat technical director Rinat Bashirov said in the article. "In his latest messages to us, he said that we can easily start hiring the legionnaires (non-Russian players) we want."

But... it's not the injury and recovery that is holding up Ho-Sang's return, it's his citizenship. David Alter of The Hockey News repots that Ho-Sang would need to become a Russian citizen to continue with the club next season and that the team is prepared to help him do so. I suspect that this is at the root of Ho-Sang's discussions with his family members. Does he keep at it? Is it worth gaining citizenship in a country like Russia just to continue his career? Or does he pivot and do something different with his life? These are the tough decisions he must seek answers for.