New York Islanders: Parenteau’s A Placeholder For Ho-Sang

The New York Islanders brought back P.A. Parenteau in hopes to fill out their top line, but here’s why he is just a placeholder for Josh Ho-Sang.

The New York Islanders brought back a familiar face in P.A. Parenteau to a team friendly contract. As a player who scored 20 goals last year a one-year $1.25 million contract seems more than fair.

There are a ton of reasons why the signing was a good one for the Islanders.

It’s a low risk high reward type scenario. The Islanders only invested $1.25 million in Parenteau, which is key in today’s cap restricted game. They are trying to get the most bang for their buck with someone who has shown that he can be an adequate scorer in the NHL.

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Parenteau also had the two best years of his career during his first stint with the Islanders. He had 53 and then 67 points in his tenure with the Isles. Part of the reason why he played so well was his chemistry with John Tavares, whom he will be reunited with on the Isles top line.

The final key to why the contract was a good one is it’s length, one year. It shows that he is just a placeholder.

P.A. Parenteau isn’t in the Islanders long term plans and that’s okay. He’s a role player, and a damn good one to boot. He will be holding down the RW position on the top line. Waiting in the wings is talented prospect Josh Ho-Sang.

It was announced today that Josh Ho-Sang will be starting the year in Bridgeport. He was out to prove people wrong in this camp due to his absence last year. He had a good camp, but due to his lack of experience at the pro level it makes sense to start him in the AHL.

Ho-Sang is the inevitable RW to John Tavares, but it isn’t fair for anyone to rush him to the NHL. Parenteau is more than adequate to hold down the fort until Ho-Sang is ready.

If you can get 40 points out of Parenteau on a line with Ladd and Tavares you’d be happy. Ho-Sang’s career expectations may be high but to expect a 20 year old to put up 40 points right out of the bat is asking a lot.

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Let Parenteau go to work with JT, then next year the focus can be put on Ho-Sang. He will have a year experience in the AHL under his belt at that point. Then the fun of Ladd-Tavares-Ho-Sang can be talked about.