NEW YORK RANGERS SEND 6 TO HARTFORD WOLF PACK
By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the club has assigned six players to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. The club has assigned defenseman Connor Mackey and forwards Adam Sýkora, Turner Elson, Alex Belzile, Anton Blidh, and Riley Nash to the Wolf Pack.
Mackey, 27, split the 2022-23 season between the NHL’s Coyotes and Calgary Flames. The Tower Lake, IL, native scored three points (2 g, 1 a) in ten games with the Flames. After being claimed off waivers by the Coyotes on March 3rd, 2023, Mackey skated in 20 games with the club, scoring four points (1 g, 3 a).
He signed with the Rangers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2023.
Sýkora, 19, scored 21 points (8 g, 13 a) in 38 games with HK Nitra in Slovakia. He added four points (1 g, 3 a) in eight playoff games before joining the Wolf Pack. In Hartford, Sýkora scored one assist in two regular-season games and four Calder Cup Playoff games.
He made his AHL debut on April 14th, 2023, against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, then nabbed his first point on April 28th, 2023, in a playoff game against the Providence Bruins.
The native of Piestany, Slovakia, was selected in the second round, 63rd overall, of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers.
Elson, 31, scored 41 points (17 g, 24 a) in 72 games during his first season with the Wolf Pack in 2022-23. He also tacked on six points (2 g, 4 a) in nine Calder Cup Playoff games with the club.
The native of New Westminster, BC, has appeared in 541 career AHL games with the Wolf Pack, Grand Rapids Griffins, San Antonio Rampage, Stockton Heat, Adirondack Flames, and Abbotsford Heat, scoring 251 points (112 g, 139 a). He also wore an ‘A’ for the Wolf Pack last season.
Elson signed a two-year free-agent contract with the Rangers on July 14th, 2022.
Belzile, 32, notched a career-high six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 31 games with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens a season ago. In addition, Belzile tallied 26 points (14 g, 12 a) in 31 games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
The native of St-Eloi, QC, has scored 15 points (6 g, 9 a) in 44 career NHL games, all with the Canadiens. He’s also dressed in 319 career AHL games with the Rocket, Rampage, and Hamilton Bulldogs, scoring 194 points (82 g, 112 a).
Belzile is a two-time Kelly Cup Champion in the ECHL (2014 and 2017) and appeared in the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic as a member of the Rocket.
He signed a one-year free-agent contract with the Rangers on July 1st, 2023.
Blidh, 28, appeared in 14 games with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche during the 2022-23 season. He also appeared in 36 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, scoring 12 points (6 g, 6 a). The Avalanche traded Blidh to the New York Rangers on March 3rd, 2023.
With the Wolf Pack following the trade, Blidh scored eleven points (7 g, 4 a) in 17 regular season games. He added seven points (2 g, 5 a) in nine Calder Cup Playoff games with the club.
Blidh was selected in the sixth round, 180th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He inked a two-year contract extension with the Rangers on June 8th, 2023.
Nash, 34, led the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in scoring with 59 points (24 g, 35 a) in 66 games. The native of Consort, AB, has scored 166 points (69 g, 97 a) in 271 career AHL games with the Checkers and Syracuse Crunch. He’s also appeared in 627 career NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes, scoring 176 points (63 g, 113 a).
Nash was selected in the first round, 21st overall, by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He signed a two-year free-agent contract with the Rangers on July 1st, 2023.
The Wolf Pack kick off the home portion of their 2023-24 season at the XL Center on Friday, October 20th, when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins come to town. The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
The full 2023-24 Wolf Pack schedule can be viewed here. For tickets, visit hartfordwolfpack.com/tickets, or call 860-722-9425.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers’ newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
