Josh Ho-Sang is “a changed man” in last shot at an NHL job in Toronto

Josh Ho-Sang is finally free from the shackles of the New York Islanders organization and has a professional tryout contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Islanders chose not to qualify the pending RFA making him an unrestricted free agent for the first since being drafted 28th overall by the Islanders back in 2014. The skilled 25-year-old forward has played just 53 NHL games with the Islanders and has bounced around the AHL and the Swedish Hockey League these past two seasons when it was clear that he wasn’t in the Isles long or short term plans. 

He now gets to impress GM Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs, and according to many folks around the young player, he might just have what it takes to crack the roster. 

But that’s not just it for Ho-Sang : this could be his last shot at an NHL job.

“I think he’s a changed man,” his dad said Tuesday to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun who wrote this on Ho-Sang: 

“The fact that Ho-Sang is from Toronto means he won’t be on his own and left to his own misgivings. He will have support around him.”

A lot of people are rooting for him, seeing that he could have become the best player of his draft year, “the same draft that sent Leon Draisaitl to Edmonton and saw his former minor hockey teammate, Sam Bennett, taken along with William Nylander, David Pastrnak, and the newly signed Leaf Nick Ritchie who have wound up in the NHL.”

“You have to understand, he’s not a bad person,” a hockey man close to Ho-Sang said. “He just thinks differently than you and I do. And hockey’s not meant for those who think differently … If there’s a team that might get him, it might be the Leafs.

“Josh has a good soul. I’m really hoping this is his time.”

The question though is not only if the Leafs will get him, but also if they will let him into the lineup…