Should the Maple Leafs sign Josh Ho-Sang to an NHL deal?

Omar responds to Maple Leafs fans who have been calling for Josh Ho-Sang to be called up following his impressive start with the Marlies.

On the latest episode of 'In the Mentions', Omar hails the Joseph Holl love-in, investigates Auston Matthews contributions beyond goal scoring, and takes stock of where the Maples Leafs are at after 20% of the season.

Subscribe to Yahoo Sports NHL on YouTube for the latest episodes of 'In the Mentions

Video Transcript

OMAR: Kyle Dubas went very scientific this offseason, going with a lot of experiments, David Kampf, Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie. But one that has actually had a lot of Leafs fans rooting for it is Josh Ho-Sang. Josh Ho-Sang has had an interesting time in the NHL but hasn't really been given an opportunity to actually find his footing. And now, with the Toronto Marlies on an AHL contract, he is dominating. Has eight goals, four assists. One goal in particular was one of the nastiest goals I've seen in the minors in a long time.

So it begs the question, when will the leafs sign Josh Ho-Sang to an NHL deal? Because, again, he's on an AHL deal right now. So even if the Leafs wanted to call him up, they can't. So I put a poll up, asking should it be now, maybe before the deadline, over the offseason, or some other option? It's actually dead even between Leafs fans who think that the Leafs should sign him to a deal now or before the deadline.

Now, personally, I think it might be a better move to just leave him in the AHL for the entire year. Yes, he's doing a lot of great things, but I think the most important thing is that Josh Ho-Sang has found his confidence. He's found his groove back. And I don't know if it'll help or hurt his development if we bring him up and he has kind of this odd pressure around him. I don't think anyone's gonna expect him to dominate, especially considering that we have all these stars, but I think there will be an expectation of him to take all the success he's had in the AHL this year and bring it to the NHL.

I think it actually might benefit him to have the entire year to just dominate the minors and then sign over the offseason and then come back where there'll be a lot of holes. Who knows if Ondrej Kase can stick around? He's an RFA, but who knows? Who knows what deals are made between now and the end of the season? Maybe there might be a whole bunch of holes up front, and then maybe the Leafs will give Josh Ho-Sang that opportunity to make the team out of camp next year.

But I think what we have seen is definitely that a lot of the discourse around Josh Ho-Sang has definitely been misunderstood. And I really do think the Leafs have a player in Josh Ho-Sang who can be a very good, successful piece moving forward. And whether it's now, whether it's next season, whether it's over the offseason, I think Josh Ho-Sang is an NHL player.