A leaked tweet suggests that a player in the Leafs' system is on Canada's Olympic team
Hockey Canada is set to announce their roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing tomorrow. Thanks to a recently deleted IIHF tweet, Canada's roster may have been inadvertently leaked a day early and, if true, the roster features a current Marlies forward.
Josh Ho-sang signed an AHL deal with the Toronto Marlies in order to remain a part of the Leafs organization without having to clear waivers and risk being claimed by another club. Ho-Sang has turned his career around with the Marlies this season, taking advantage of the second chance the Leafs organization has given him and has appeared nothing but grateful for the opportunity. Ho-Sang has 20 points in 27 games for the Marlies this season, which is tied for 3rd in team scoring.
After what was a rocky begin to his pro career with the Islanders, Ho-Sang has shown a drastic increase in maturity since he came to the Leafs. It is paying off for him and, if the leak is true, he has earned the chance to represent his country at the 2022 Olympics. What an incredible honour.
The NHL pulled out of the Olympics and in turn so did the AHL. That being said, Ho-Sang is a unique situation. He's on an AHL contract, which allows for him to be loaned by the Leafs organization to Hockey Canada for the Olympic Games.
Many have speculated that at some point, Ho-Sang will sign an NHL contract with the Leafs. This would need to be done by the March 24th trade deadline in order for him to be eligible for the playoffs. A good showing at the Olympics will likely do wonders for the future of Ho-Sang's NHL career. He may play his way into a gig with the Leafs if his play keeps up.
Recently, Ho-Sang suffered a concussion during Marlies game after being drilled in the head by Lehigh Valley's Adam Clendening, but as long as he doesn't suffer any setbacks in his recovery, he should be good to go for the Oiympics.
Ho-Sang isn't the only player on Team Canada with Leafs ties. Daniel Winnik spent parts of 2 seasons with the Leafs but was traded at the trade deadline in both seasons.
The rest of the leaked roster is made up of veterans and young players. Eric Staal is the most notable name on the roster. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. He recently signed an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild, putting up 5 points in 4 games. Proving that he's still got the ability to score and he should be heavily relied upon by Team Canada. Other notable veterans on the team are forward David Desharnais and defenceman Jason Demers; who have played 524 and 699 career NHL games, respectively.
Recent World Junior standouts, Owen Power and Mason MacTavish, who both had their aspirations at a gold medal cut short at the World Juniors this year, will now have a shot at gold in Beijing.
Meanwhile, goalie Devon Levi put up a .964 save percentage with Team Canada at the 2021 World Juniors, where Canada lost in the gold medal game to the United-States.
