The New York Islanders and Josh Ho-Sang have avoided arbitration, signing a new one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Ho-Sang had a hearing scheduled for Friday, which will no longer be required.
Ho-Sang, 24, appeared to be heading toward a split with the Islanders after another testy season. He played only 16 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, requested a trade, and found himself sent nearly 2,000 miles away to San Antonio, loaned to the AHL’s Rampage. Even a qualifying offer was surprising, but the team obviously didn’t want to allow him to walk into unrestricted free agency without receiving any value back.
Now, on a two-way, league-minimum contract, Ho-Sang’s trade value may actually have crept high enough for something to get done. Teams around the league that need to fill out their lineup with cheap forwards could call the Islanders and give the talented offensive player a chance. While he certainly hasn’t proven anything to this point, Ho-Sang does have 24 points in 53 career NHL games and has always been able to contribute on the minor league powerplay.
The Islanders haven’t escaped arbitration completely just yet. The team still has a hearing with star defenseman Ryan Pulock scheduled for November 6, and also has a negotiation to complete with the ineligible Mathew Barzal.
is the only reason for avoiding arbitration to ensure a two-way? I mean avoiding arbitration for league minimum sounds weird. in this climate I guess a guaranteed 700,000 is better than minors money.