Inconsistent Josh Ho-Sang gets latest Islanders second chance

It took a stark bit of candor from Barry Trotz to put the next chapter in the saga of Josh Ho-Sang into perspective.

“To stay in the league — not only here, to stay in the league — is to be consistent in his game, and then produce,” the Islanders coach said of his mercurial young charge. “That’s the biggest thing.”

Ho-Sang was back with the big club after an emergency call-up from AHL Bridgeport hours before Tuesday night’s Coliseum match against the Senators. With the flu bug going around the locker room, it was possible that Ho-Sang was going to soon get his third chance this season to impress on the coaches that he belongs in the NHL.

But just as it was with his previous two stints this season —when he amassed 10 games under Trotz — and just as it was with the 43 NHL games he played in the two previous seasons since turning pro, it hasn’t been easy for the talented 23-year-old to stay in the show.

Taken with the No. 28-overall selection in 2014, Ho-Sang possesses offensive flair that at times is jaw-dropping. But there is more to it than just raw talent.

“To me, if you don’t use your talent correctly, then the talent is useless,” Trotz said Tuesday morning, before looking around at Islanders legend and former coach Butch Goring.

“Everybody can tell you — I’m looking at Butchie right there — he’s seen a lot of highly talented players that get nothing done. And he’s seen highly talented players that get a lot done. Which one do you want to be?”

Of course, this question has been posed to Ho-Sang by many people over the years, most infamously by former general manager Garth Snow, who made Ho-Sang run the stairs of the Coliseum after oversleeping on the first day of his first training camp.

It would have been possible to put that incident behind him, but Ho-Sang has struggled to do that. Even earlier this season, Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson felt the need to occasionally make him a healthy scratch and limit his ice time before he began to raise his competitiveness.

So the trips up and down are nothing new to Ho-Sang, who said, “It’s been like every year of my pro hockey career.”

Ho-Sang is going into this summer as a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights, and his future remains uncertain — just as it was uncertain whether the Islanders could trade him before the Feb. 25 deadline.

“I’m happy here,” Ho-Sang said when asked about any nervousness around that time. “For me, I had no concerns. I heard stuff from multiple close family sources, and people asking me questions, and I didn’t have answers. I don’t think anyone has answers around that time. For me, just kind of waiting.”

The surprising success of the Islanders, still battling for first place in the Metropolitan Division, made it hard for team president Lou Lamoriello to make any wholesale changes. But at least that success has made it easier for Ho-Sang to accept his previous plight in the minors.

“Everyone wants to play in the NHL, not just me. If you ask any American League hockey player, ‘Are you upset you’re not in the NHL? Or, ‘Does it frustrate you?’ Yeah, of course,” Ho-Sang said. “But at the same time, this team has been amazing this year. It’s definitely easier not to be in the NHL when the NHL team is great.”

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In Ho-Sang’s first 10 games with the Islanders this season, he put up one goal and one assist — but the team was also 9-1-0 with him in the lineup. In his 44 games with the Sound Tigers — who are in second place in their Atlantic Division — he has the lopsided stat line of six goals and 30 assists.

The Islanders are desperate for more offensive production, especially on the power play, but Ho-Sang’s talent has not always resulted in production. If it did, this see-saw saga wouldn’t continue and he would just be a NHL player already.

“His talent and his ability is undeniable,” Trotz said. “He’s got a good skill set. Now how you use that skill set and produce with that skill set, that will determine if you’re a part-time or full-time NHL player.”