New York Islanders Top Five Players Likely Traded Before Expansion

Josh Ho-Sang

It could be Mathew Barzal that leaves, but my money’s on Josh Ho-Sang departing before the Isles move the recent WHL playoff MVP from their roster. As a center, Barzal might just be too valuable to the organization in the future.

Joshua Ho-Sang was absolutely brilliant in his 21 game stint with the New York Islanders at the end of the season. He produced a ton of offense and was a dynamic driving force for the Islanders going forward. His defensive game however not so much.

Which might just be fine depending on how a team is coached. In Mike Bossy’s recent Player’s Tribune article he indicated that Arbour didn’t care about his defensive game, so long as he was scoring goals.

But the Isles just don’t seem like that type of team. They place a lot of value on players that can excel defensively as well as offensively.

Next: Isles Front Runners for Duchene

A package of Hamonic/de Haan/Hickey, Brock Nelson and Josh Ho-Sang, should limit the Isles exposure at the expansion draft and bring the right player back to the Islanders. They might still lose a defender that was listed here, but they also get a top line winger, and that’s ultimately the goal pre-expansion.