BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Sunday in Cromwell off-ice training, physicals, and hitting the ice will take place at the XL Center kicking off the Hartford Wolf Pack’s 23rd AHL campaign.
The Wolf Pack will have the normal fluid roster for this time of year.
Four more players from the team’s NHL affiliate, the New York Rangers, will join six others who’ve already been sent to Hartford.
On Friday, the Rangers sent three defensemen, Brandon Crawley, who enters the last season of an entry-level contract, a third-year pro, Darren Raddysh, who was acquired last season from the Rockford Ice Hogs (Chicago Black Hawks) for Peter Holland, who is entering the last season of his original entry-level deal. Also, Vincent LoVerde, who was signed as an off-season free agent who played with Toronto last season as the assistant captain for the Marlies.
For two years in Ontario, LoVerde was their captain when they were in the ECHL.
He played three years for Manchester, NH and was the captain on their last AHL Monarchs team that won the Calder Cup.
The lone forward is Jake Elmer. He played five games at the end of the year last season for the Wolf Pack adding two goals and four points after completing his junior career with Lethbridge (WHL) where he had had 39 goals and 81 points in 68 games.
Five other players were sent down at the beginning of the week.
Two of the five players were goalies. AHL veteran Tom McCollum was signed in the off-season and was also a Rangers’ training camp invitee. Francois Brassard, from Carleton University (OUAA), was the other. The other three reassigned are forwards. They are right-winger, Ville Meskanen, who showed flashes of promise in his rookie camp. Matt Beleskey was one of his linemates for a majority of last season. Second-year pro center, Ty Ronning, was dispatched and split last season between Maine and Hartford.
The third is winger is none other than veteran Ryan Gropp, who played better in the second half of last season after being sent to Maine in November last season. Gropp is entering the last season of his entry-level contract and being sent back to Hartford so early is certainly not a good sign.
Belesky was the first player reassigned and not invited to Rangers camp. He enters the last season of a four-year, NHL, one-way deal that was originally signed with the Boston Bruins. Beleskey gets $1.9 million with the Bruins picking up half of his salary. His cap-friendly deal gives the Rangers just an $825K cap hit for this season. Beleskey had to go through waivers first on Friday, the day before Wolf Pack camp opens, in order to be formally assigned.
Defenseman Sean Day had off-season hip surgery. He will be in residence for a period of time that has yet to be determined. He has been skating, but still is in a no-contact red jersey. New Russian defenseman, Yegor Rykov, had an ankle injury in Traverse City but has healed and is back on skates.
Another defenseman from Finland, a fourth-round draft pick, Tarmo Reunanen, who signed an entry-level deal, is going to be returned at the end of training camp to his Finnish club Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) for the season. That move will allow him to be with the Wolf Pack at the end of 2019-20 season and hopefully for the post-season as well.
The Wolf Pack first preseason game is in Danbury against Springfield this coming Wednesday night.
NOTES:
Incredible how time flies. On Friday, defenseman, Dan Girardi, 35, announced his retirement from professional hockey. It seems like yesterday he was walking on with an ECHL deal only for the then, Charlotte Checkers in the Coast League. He played about a month before he came to Hartford. Then played a season and a half in Hartford before a recall to the Rangers and never came back.
He played 927 NHL games between New York and Tampa Bay with 56 goals 208 assists 264 points and a plus-78 rating. He helped the Rangers to a division title, a President’s Trophy and a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2014. He has the most block shots since the NHL added the stat in 2005-06 and stopped 1,954. He played in the NHL playoffs in 12-of-his-13 pro seasons and had 788 games with Rangers.
“On behalf of the entire Rangers organization, I want to congratulate Dan on an outstanding NHL career,” Rangers Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor Glen Sather said. “Dan was the ultimate warrior. From the moment he joined the Rangers, he gave his heart and soul to his teammates, the organization, and the fans. Dan’s relentless effort and dedication to the Rangers was an inspiration to everyone..”
Former Hartford Courant writer Bruce Berlet who covered the Wolf Pack for eight years and the NHL Whalers was effusive in his praise.
“Amazing this “walk-on” played 13 years in the NHL, but it shows just what a hard-trier and great team player that he was. He is one of my all-time favorite Wolf Pack/Rangers players that I ever dealt with for just that reason and because he was so professional and classy with how he handled himself.”
The Rangers finally got ex-Pack, Tony DeAngelo, under contract becoming the last player (RFA) to sign with the Rangers.
This will allow promising, but not yet ready righty shooting rookie rearguard Joey Keane to be assigned to Hartford in the very near future. In fact, expect a slew of players to be assigned by Sunday/Monday to Hartford as the Rangers and all of the NHL teams work toward their CBA required 23 players permitted.
Good news is neither the NHL or NHLPLA will reopen the CBA, so the current CBA will run its course until 2022. That means the NHL will be sending players to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers open their camp as well-received, ex-Pack, Ryan Bourque, who signed his AHL deal, Colin McDonald (Wethersfield), Connor Doherty (Sacred Heart University-AHA), Parker Wotherspoon, and AHL vets Ben Thomson, and Steve Bernier, Kyle Thomas and among the first signees of the Danbury Hat Tricks (FHL) Dustin Jesseau.
Former Wolf Pack defensemen, Hubert Labrie, and Mark Kastelic, and the son of a former Whaler, Ed Kastelic, were assigned to the Belleville Senators camp.
Many ex-Pack players were sent to their respective AHL camps from their NHL parent teams; Rob O’Gara (San Antonio), Dustin Tokarski (Wilkes Barre/Scranton), Chris McCarthy and Tommy Hughes (Hershey) while Shawn O’Donnell and Matt Register were both cuts from Minnesota’s camp earlier in the week.
Former Sound Tigers include Casey Bailey (Hershey), Dyson Stevenson (Utica), and Eamon MacAdam (Binghamton). Goalie Beau Starrett (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was assigned to Bakersfield.
Sons of players also were sent to the AHL include Nolan Stevens, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler, John Stevens, is in San Antonio. Brad Malone, the nephew of ex-Whaler Greg Malone and the cousin of former Pack Ryan Malone, is in Bakersfield. Mitch Eliot, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Daren Eliot, is in Utica while Luke Esposito (Greenwich/Brunswick Prep), the nephew of Rangers great, Mark Messier, is in Bakersfield. Mason Primeau, the nephew of former Whaler, Keith Primeau, was sent back to North Bay (OHL).
In the ECHL, former Wolf Pack, Alex Krushelnyski, the son of former Ranger Mike Krushelnyski, signs with Indy (ECHL). Mitch Jones, the son of former Nighthawk and Ottawa Senator, Brad Jones, signs with Jacksonville (ECHL).
River Rymsha, the son of former Nighthawk, Andrew Rymsha, finished his NCAA career with Miami (OH) (NCHC) and earns a degree from Dartmouth, has signed with the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL). The team’s former head coach was Robbie Ftorek, a former player and head coach of the Nighthawks, and also a former Norfolk assistant coach in former Whalers goalie, Peter Sidorkiewicz, both of whom were let go this summer.
Ex-Pack goalie, Charles Williams, is in Rockford’s camp and has a deal with Indy (ECHL). Peter Quenneville, a former QU Bobcat, is in Tucson’s camp and has an ECHL deal with Rapids City.
Jake Marchment, the nephew of ex-Whaler Bryan Marchment, signs with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL).
Billy Exall, of the two-time defending national champions, the University Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC) signs with Rockford (AHL). That makes 210 collegians to sign pro deals and 280 collegians overall.
Nick Capone (East Haven/Salisbury Prep) will play with the Tri-City Storm (USHL) this season. He also de-committed from the University of Maine Black Bears (HE) and will skate for the UCONN Huskies (HE) in 2020-21.
