Josh Ho-Sang feels that when he arrived at New York Islanders training camp last month, the team had already decided he wouldn't make the big club.

Ho-Sang was assigned to the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sept. 24 after appearing in just two preseason games. He told the New York Post over the weekend that he doesn't believe he was given an opportunity to compete for a spot on the 23-man roster.

“I felt like they had their minds made up on what was going to happen and what the team was going to look like,” Ho-Sang said. “It’s OK. They had the whole summer to plan that. I don’t know if you watched any of the games, but I didn’t play a lot. It’s OK. It is what it is.”

Ho-Sang was plus-1 in two preseason games with the Islanders before being sent down. He scored two goals and posted 12 points in 22 games with the Islanders last season.

The 22-year-old has been critical of his place in the Islanders organization in the past, and has seemingly had a rocky relationship with the team since showing up late on the first day of Islanders training camp in 2015 and immediately being sent back to the OHL.

He said over the summer he was looking forward to a fresh start under new general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz. The Post reports Ho-Sang spoke on his respect of Lamoriello in their interview and added, "Lou has his morals, and you don’t have to agree with them, but those aren’t going to change.” 

“I thought he worked hard,” Lamoriello said of Ho-Sang after he was sent down in September. “He worked hard on his game away from the puck. He just needs to go to the minors, go there and get over all these issues that I haven’t seen that transpired in the past.”

Ho-Sang doesn't believe he's been used properly in the AHL, either. The winger has four assists and minus-8 rating in nine games, but argues he hasn't had the ice time to make more of an impact.

“They tell me they want me to be a top-six forward up there, but I’m not a top-six forward down here, so it’s confusing,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s like you’re sprinting with a rubber band on. You constantly have tension. You run until you’re exhausted and then the band is going to pull you back. If I was going to say anything, it would be just watch. I’m just pointing it out.”

Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson sees things differently and said he's trying to help Ho-Sang improve.

“Big upside,” Thompson said. “Obviously you see his skill set. He has to learn when is the right time to use that and when is the right time to make the simple play and be a little predictable for his teammate.

“But if you were to project him to the NHL, listen, he’s a top-six guy, maybe a top-nine guy, especially if he cleans up his play away from the puck. When he has the puck, we want him to score, we want him to create, we want him to use his speed. That’s something that we encourage. It’s just that there are sometimes that time and situation dictates [otherwise], and it’s him learning when that is.”

Ho-Sang, a 2014 first-round pick of the Islanders, has scored six goals and posted 22 points in 43 career NHL games over the past two seasons. 

He stopped shy of saying of being treated unfairly by the Islanders.

“There’s no such thing as fair,” Ho-Sang said. “It doesn’t exist, as much as we like it to.”