Hartford Heating Up Heading Into Atlantic Division Semifinals

HARTFORD, CT - The New York Rangers had an organizational goal for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The goal was to snap a seven-season playoff drought.

The mission was a success as Hartford is not only competing in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs, but have advanced through to the Atlantic Division Semifinals where they will face the top-seeded Providence Bruins.

Despite losing veteran goaltender Louis Domingue, top-pairing defenseman Libor Hajek and top-line forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Jake Leschyshyn to NHL recall by the Rangers, the Wolf Pack swept rival Springfield two games to none in the first round best-of-three series.

For the first time since 2015, Hartford is able to give an extended taste of playoff action for the upcoming Rangers prospects. For a fanbase and organization that has gone through significant struggles and falling short of playoffs in recent years, the news is exciting after going through a roller coaster ride in their current season.

Despite struggles and a slow start of the season, the Wolf Pack found themselves battling hard for the playoffs. You have to give credit to Rangers management as they revamped Hartford's roster at the NHL trade deadline.

In addition, veterans that were added mid-season significantly boosted the Wolf Pack's opportunities for playoffs.

Looking back on the season, the turning point was in December with the addition of Ryan Carpenter and Zac Jones. The Wolf Pack were beginning to find their game and feet.

Further reinforcements of Jonny Brodzinski and Sammy Blais (AHL conditioning stint) gave Hartford additional boost for a veteran presence and dynamic offense. While Blais’s time was limited in a Wolf Pack uniform, the seasoned NHL veteran pushed Hartford in games he played, giving the group goals that would ultimately lead to a point or win.

Brodzinski never missed the beat after rejoining Hartford after being up in New York for a two-month stint.

Carpenter helped the sluggish offense to find a spark and produce goals.

Jones entered the young defensive core to provide sound defense and further reliability on the back end.

The consistency that remained the entire season is Hartford’s goaltending. Louis Domingue and rookie Dylan Garand have performed strong throughout the 2022-2023 regular season. Add in the roster changes at deadline, Hartford was enhanced, and the results are there for the club.

Will Lockwood, Anton Blidh and Adam Clendening are key cogs on the current roster and have shown results on both ends of the ice.

The Second Half Push

From a stats perspective, if we look at Hartford’s record beginning in January, the club is 23-12-3-2 in 40 games through the final week of the season with two games to play. The group has points in 28 of those games, which was pivotal in their push for a playoff spot. Here’s a breakdown by month:

January: 6-3-2-1 February: 6-4 March: 7-5-1-1 April: 5-1

The club found ways to collect points often in the second half of the season. While Hartford found their game in January, the roster had potential to be improved further, which Rangers management identified deficiencies and made corresponding moves to address them.

Hartford’s veterans continued to guide the club for a playoff spot.

Carpenter has 42 points in 49 games since joining Hartford in December. The veteran also has a knack of providing reliable offense as he collected 21 goals and 21 assists through 49 games. Carpenter can go on streaks for offense and has jumpstarted the forward group beginning in December.

Tanner Fritz, despite a slow start to his season offensively, has become another strong force for the group. Fritz is a talented two-way center that can establish plays along with being reliable in the face-off circle. He also gives Hartford’s coaching staff options on where he can play, given the abundance of reliable centers on the roster.

As Fritz found his offensive game in the second half of the season, Hartford began to find the win column further, and that continued in the post-season thus far as Fritz recorded six points (one goal, five assists) in the Wolf Pack's first round series in just two games.

On the prospect of the team, Will Cuylle, is having a strong rookie season. He led the team in goals with 25 and finished second on the team with 45 points on the season. In addition to his production, Cuylle provides grit and a edge to the lineup. We have seen him develop and grow on both ends of the ice, doing a little of everything. I expect Cuylle to compete for a spot in New York next season for a depth position.

Jones is another prospect that had another stellar year in Hartford. Despite his struggles in New York and was unable to return, Jones made the best out of his time in Hartford. The talented defensive prospect quarterbacks Hartford’s power play, creating nifty plays and pushed the power play to become productive, which has struggled throughout the season. Jones also adds in experience on the defensive aspect of the game, where he blocks passing lanes and is able to transition the club from defense to offense.

Bobby Trivigno’s rookie has shown growth as well, doing the little aspects of the games right and had a good year offensively. The forward had seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 57 appearances this season. He recorded his first three point game of the season recently against Providence.

Dylan Garand is another rookie that has grown significantly with the organization. Garand is 13-13-3 with a 3.07 goals against average and a .893 save percentage. At times, his stats may indicate struggles. However, the rookie has shown he can play strong and bounce-back in games where he struggled. That was a season theme for Garand, to bounce-back and able to adapt to situations throughout contests. Garand was also strong in Hartford’s season-ending 8-1 stretch.

With Domingue up as the third goalie sitting idle with the Rangers, Garand thrived on the opportunity to step up and be the team's playoff goalie - only allowing one goal against in each of the two first-round wins (2-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .956 SV%).

The Outlook

As the regular season ends, the journey for the Calder Cup begins. Hartford is on a roll and hot at the right time, using that momentum to skate past Springfield in the opening round of the AHL's expanded 23-team field. If the club can continue to bring that momentum through the playoffs, they could very well produce noise.

Despite struggles in the season, the club can compete against anyone in the Eastern Conference. While this is new territory for the club, there must be optimism in the locker room and around the fanbase. This has been a long time coming, folks.

Stay tuned for additional playoff cover for the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. See you soon!