The services of Wolf Pack call-ups for the New York Rangers have been vital to the team's success this season.
Tarrytown, NY- The New York Rangers have faced several shorthanded situations this season and needed help within the organization to balance the lineup.
Luckily for the Blueshirts, the Hartford Wolf Pack is operating at an elite level under the guise of new management—the mission statement: No longer will AHL players be minute-muncher call-ups at the NHL level.
Without the services of Jonny Brodzinski, Adam Edstrom, Louis Domingue, Brennan Othmann, and Zac Jones, the Rangers could be lower in the standings.
Brodzinski posted 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 16 games as the AHL's leading point scorer before he was called up on Nov, 28th.
He has recorded eight points in 20 games for the Rangers, earning a position on the third line and the second powerplay unit.
"Over the past few years I think Hartford's become a winning culture," Brodzinski told the Hockey News. "If you don't have that winningness level with you, you're never going to do it at the next level.
Building that winning culture and having young players that are used to winning and have that winning sense in their brain creates it at the next level, and it helps."
A call-up being a part of the team's successful fabric was not commonplace for this club in years past. But it has been this season as the Rangers are the fifth-best team in the NHL and are currently leading the tough Metropolitan Division.
As the captain of the Wolf Pack, Brodzinski encourages his teammates to push to reach the next level.
"It's great. As a leader down there, there's a lot of younger guys that look up to you to keep pushing every day down there because I know what it's like up here."
Brodzinski's linemate in the AHL, Brennan Othmann -- whom he has mentored -- was sent back down to Hartford on Tuesday morning after a brief three-game NHL stint.
The 21-year-old recorded five shots on goal in his NHL debut on Jan. 4th but only skated in 7:33 of ice time against the Canucks on Monday.
"I thought that Brennan played a really good game last night he was noticeable with the puck [and] with his speed, creating, so that's a real positive first game," Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said after Othmann's first game.
"I thought that Brennan played a really good game last night he was noticeable with the puck [and] with his speed, creating, so that's a real positive first game," Laviolette said after Othmann's first game.
The Rangers' 2021 first-round draft pick netted nine goals and 23 points for Hartford before he made his NHL debut. He will continue to refine his game again in the second-best hockey league in the world.
"I knew it was going to be a hard league. I mean, it's one of the hardest leagues in the world to play in," Othmann said. "Everyone's fighting for a job up here, and I was lucky enough to get the first call-up out of the way and take some pressure off myself, and since then, I think I'm playing good hockey."
For all of the Rangers' injuries and lineup holes, the Wolf Pack cavalry has impressed the coaching staff and allowed the lineup to flourish and not falter.
"I think our affiliate down in Hartford [and] the coaches have done a really good job supporting us with players to be ready to play, recommending the players that we need and the players that are playing well for them to come up," Laviolette said."
It's just about filling the holes and forming spots inside of our team but I do think that the guys have come up with played well. "
Edstrom was not available this week to call up to fill in for Tyler Pitlick, as he was dealing with an injury of his own. He would have likely been the next player called up., as the Rangers brass liked his contributions when they needed him on Dec. 15th.
"When we called Edstrom up, I thought his size, speed, and physicality chipped in. He scored at the end of the game," Laviolette said. "I thought he had a real good showing as well, so it's nice that these players can come up and be inserted into the lineup and be effective for us."
The first-year Rangers head coach also credited the development of the Blueshirt's younger players to the veteran leaders on the squad.
"If the environment is right and the culture is right, veteran players and good players want to help these young kids."
Will Cuylle played in Hartford last season and posted 25 goals. He currently lives with the Trocheck family and has developed a relationship with the Rangers thriving second-line center.
"When you think of Will Cuylle and his relationship with [Vincent Trocheck] his guidance for a young player coming into the league [in] his first year. I think our veteran players do a really good job of making sure that these guys are comfortable in the right place to succeed."
"It's a great spot down there. A lot of development happened last year, and just getting better and becoming a good pro," Cuylle told THN. "A lot of our guys, [like] Jonny Brodzinski [and] Braden Schneider played, four or five other guys in the lineup [played]. It's a really good spot for development."
Zac Jones recorded 66 points (17 goals, 49 assists) for the Wolf Pack in 106 games from 2021-2023.
"I think the biggest thing for us down there was developing guys and learning the New York Rangers system...we do a lot of the same systems down there that we do up here," said the seasoned American Leauger."Learning the systems learning how to be a pro, how to handle a 67-game schedule...it was great down there."