Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
An offseason of change will soon be put to the test for both the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack.
2025-26 After a rough campaign in which both clubs missed the postseason, Rangers management quickly got to work on both hockey and business, including extending their Hartford affiliation, which enters its 30th season this fall, through 2029.
They landed too Jay Leachnaming him the new head coach of the Wolf Pack on June 5 and led the Calder Cup winners. Bob Woods (associate coach) and John Stevens (assistant coach) to complete the team. Leach’s coaching resume includes four seasons as head coach of the Providence Bruins and as an NHL assistant in Seattle and Boston.
Hartford needs that kind of winning experience. The Wolf Pack finished last in the Atlantic Division at 26-38-5-3 in 2025-26 and have made the playoffs just three times since 2013.
“There (are) a number of changes throughout the organization,” Rangers GM Chris Drury said as training camp opened this week. “Professional scouting, development, performance, you name it. Whenever we all talk together, I keep saying that I’m looking for ways to be better. It was interesting for us to add some new pieces, new perspectives.”
Sitting next to Drury in the team’s training facility is the Rangers’ head coach Mike Sullivan claimed jobs this preseason. The Rangers finished last in the NHL’s Eastern Conference in 2025-26 and are looking for some solutions that could include last season’s Hartford staff.
Depending on how these preseason battles play out, this season’s Wolf Pack roster could be a prospect. And regardless of how the NHL club’s opening night roster looks, the Rangers will be counting on their prospects in Hartford to earn playing time in New York during the season.
One of those candidates is a defender Albert Smithwho was taken fifth overall by the Rangers in last June’s NHL draft. Still only 18, Smits already has two top European circuits (Finland and Germany) as well as skating for Latvia at the 2026 Olympics. Drew FortescueComing off three seasons at Boston College, he won two gold medals with Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships and began his professional career by appearing in nine games with the Rangers last spring.
Another potential first-round pick on Hartford’s roster is the 20-year-old forward Liam Greentreethe return body of the transaction sent Artemi Panari to the Los Angeles Kings last February. Greentree, selected 26th overall by the Kings in the 2024 NHL Draft, has 141 goals in four seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires and will turn pro this season.
Cole Beaudoin went two spots ahead of Greentree in the same draft and was acquired in a multi-player trade that sent the veteran Vincent Trochek Utah in July. Jacob BattagliaA second-rounder from Calgary in 2004, it was a return to the March deal that saw Brennan Othman towards the fires.
Hartford’s top two scorers last season, Trey Fix-Wolanski and: Brendan Brissonwere not re-signed, nor was the Wolf Pack captain Casey Fitzgerald. Additions to the depth chart who could see time in Hartford include Glenn Gawd, Vincent Iorio, Mark Del Guizo and: Denis Cholowski. And the Wolf Pack still has a young core that the Rangers will be watching closely.
Jaroslav Chmelar Made his NHL debut last November and played 28 games with New York. Attackers Adam Sikora and: Jose Parsinen and defender Scott Morrow also split time between the Rangers and the Wolf Pack. Bryce McConnell-Barkerwho scored 14 goals for Hartford last season, and Dylan Rubruck (31 goals in his first two pro seasons) are being looked at more by the organization. Carrie TerranceAcquired from Anaheim in 2025 for Chris Kreider, enters his second pro campaign after scoring 17 points a year ago, and Aidan Thompson Scored 22 points in 58 games as a rookie between Hartford and Rockford last season.
Incoming newcomers may include: Brodie Lambwho impressed with the Wolf Pack in a 15-game tryout following his senior year at the University of Minnesota, and Nathan Aspinallwho had an OHL-high 94 points with Flint last season.
And there’s another battle ahead on the net, where? Dylan Garand Got his first taste of NHL action last year after four strong seasons in Hartford. Garand, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Rangers, signed a two-year contract extension in June. But the Rangers got one too Joonas Korpisalo and his $4 million cap hit in a trade from Boston. The battle of the Garand-Korpisalo roster to fill the star grid Igor ShesterkinA Hartford graduate himself, he is considered one of the top questions the Rangers must answer before their regular season opener on Sept. 29.
“He showed us late last year that he’s very capable of making saves in this league,” Sullivan said of Garand. “His overall growth and development has given us a little more legitimate depth at the goalie position.”
That’s the type of battle Drury, Sullivan, the Wolf Pack’s general manager, is fighting Ryan Martin and the rest of the organization want to see.
“We feel this position is competitive,” Sullivan continued, “and the ultimate goal as an organization is to have fierce competition, internal competition, healthy competition at all positions. It makes decisions difficult for the manager and the head coach.”
The Rangers’ four-game preseason schedule includes home games against the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. Hartford, which has no preseason games, begins its campaign Oct. 3 at Lehigh Valley.
“I think we covered a lot of things in the organization in Hartford and New York,” Drury said. “Excited to get started!”
With more than two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was awarded the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league in 2015-16.