HARTFORD WOLF PACK DEADLINE DAY REBUILD UNDERWAY 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Riding a four-game winning streak and enduring lineup changes this week, the Hartford Wolf Pack are ready for an all-important weekend of three games in three days.

The first two games are on the road. Friday, the Pack travel twenty minutes up 1-91 North to Springfield for a battle with the Thunderbirds. They then head south an hour to Bridgeport for a clash with the Islanders on Saturday. Finally, the Wolf Pack returns home on Sunday for a mid-afternoon game with the Charlotte Checkers at 3 pm at the XL Center.

Meanwhile, what is usually a “Trade Deadline Day” for the Wolf Pack has transformed into “Traded Deadline Week.”

The New York Rangers acquired Joe Lockwood from the Vancouver Canucks in a deal for the underperforming, underachieving, and salary cap problem, Vitali Kravtsov. At the Abbotsford Canucks (AHL), Lockwood had 12 goals in 24 games there. It remains to be seen if Lockwood can be a top-six forward finisher in Hartford.

Jake Leschyshyn, the son of former Hartford Whaler Curtis Leschyshyn, is here to play.  He will have now played for four teams in the 2022-23 campaign. He’s been on two teams in the AHL (Henderson Silver Knights and Hartford) and two in NHL (Vegas Golden Knights and the Rangers).

He’ll replace Gustav Rydahl, who was dealt to the Colorado Avalanche for left-winger, and Anton Blidh, who played with the Providence Bruins for three years but was struggling out West. Joining the Pack is defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk, who comes to Hartford from Abbotsford for future considerations. Kalynuk is a three-year vet out of Wisconsin.

In a separate deal with the Abbotsford Canucks, management continued their late-season overhaul by moving Zach Giutarri (Loomis Chaffe) out of Warwick, Rhode Island, to the Canucks also for future considerations.

The Rangers sent physically imposing and streaky scorer Austin Rueschhoff to the Milwaukee Admirals for future considerations. The team also sent an excellent hustle guy with only five points, Quinnipiac grad Alex Whelan, to the Cleveland Monsters for future considerations. The return on these deals will likely be concluded at next week’s AHL Trade Deadline or near the NHL Draft in Nashville coming up in June.

The Wolf Pack sent the defensively struggling and expensive piece, Andy Welinski, and his minus-16 shipped off to the Rockford Ice Hogs and received veteran Adam Clenending in return.

Cooper Zech was the returning player to Hartford. He had previously played against the Pack for three years in Providence with the Baby Bruins.

Clenendening will skate Friday night while Zech is here but will not dress.

Forward Zach Jordan, an off-season signee playing in Jacksonville with the Icemen, has departed the organization.

All these moves have two things in common, the Rangers taking money off the books and creating contract and salary cap space, which the Rangers and other teams are dealing with. The organization woodshedding certain players in the final year of their respective contracts. They likely wouldn’t get qualifying offers and were healthy scratches from the lineup the last three weeks.

But is this it? Are the Rangers done with their roster rebuild? Possibly, but the possibility also exists that they are not done.

Given the action this week, it’s likely that they may wait another week; either way, the Pack lineup was retooled with one thing in mind – making the Calder Cup playoffs. So it’s paramount and without a secondary option.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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