Hartford Wolf Pack Are a Good But Not Great Team Like the AHL Penguins – The Hockey Writers Hartford Wolf Pack Latest News, Analysis & More

Through 22 games of the 2024-25 season, it’s clear that the Hartford Wolf Pack, the New York Rangers American League Hockey (AHL) team, are good. They are good enough to make the playoffs and have the players in place to finish the season in the middle of the Atlantic Division.

Related: Wolf Pack Forwards Are Winning on Both Ends of the Ice

The problem is that they aren’t in the same tier as some of the top teams in their division and the AHL. There is a noticeable gap between the Wolf Pack and the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the two best teams in the division. The Dec. 7 game showed that with the Penguins looking like the better, more complete team in a 6-2 victory. There are some key issues that have prevented the Wolf Pack from being in the same tier and will keep them a step behind throughout the season.

Wolf Pack Don’t Move the Puck

Having puck handlers and great passers goes a long way in the AHL. The Penguins can gash teams with their passing and run up the score against any team. They average 3.50 goals per game and they scored three goals in the first period against the Wolf Pack and six in the game.

Outside of the top line, which with the injuries is Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Alex Belzile, and Anton Blidh, the Wolf Pack don’t score with great passing. They can score with the offense averaging 3.00 goals per game but most of them are ugly goals where Matt Rempe or Jaroslav Chmelar crowd the net and fire loose pucks into the goal.

Some of the struggles can be pinned on the absence of Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard. Othmann scored 21 goals and 28 assists last season but has only played three games this season as he’s been out with an injury. Berard meanwhile was the top playmaker with seven goals and six assists in 13 games but was called up to the Rangers and is also out with an injury. That said, the puck movement is non-existent in the bottom six and outside of a handful of forwards altogether. It explains why the power play has only scored on 14% of their opportunities, the worst mark in the Atlantic Division.

Wolf Pack’s Penalties Are a Glaring Weakness

Head coach Grant Potulny wants the Wolf Pack to set the tone in every game and with that comes a good forecheck and some hard-hitting, physical play. “You do want to get going (early)” he noted after the Dec. 7 game, and forcing the opponents to adapt to the Wolf Pack’s style of hockey gives them an advantage.

The downside of their brand of hockey is they take a lot of penalties, especially in the first period. The Wolf Pack took three in the first period against the Rockford IceHogs on Dec. 6 but it didn’t cost them in a 4-0 victory. They took three again in the first 20 minutes of action against the Penguins the next night and it did cost them as they were down 3-0 and the game was all but out of reach.

The key is finding a balance between playing physical hockey and not being an undisciplined team. “The ones you do get scored on are the hookings, the cross-checkings, and the slashing,” Potulny noted after the game against the Penguins, a sign that he, as well as most coaches, are fine when a boarding penalty or a hard hit is called but not the other errors. Casey Fitzgerald was called for kneeing and Case McCarthy was called for hooking, both penalties in the first period resulted in goals for the Penguins.

The penalties could cause this season to unravel for the Wolf Pack and it’s pivotal for them to eliminate the ones that don’t come from physical play, especially with the penalty kill still searching for an identity. “We’re still working on trying to get our penalty kill right and you can’t give people four or five chances,” Potulny said after a game where they allowed six penalties and one night removed from a game where they allowed five to the IceHogs.

Penguins Have a Shutdown Defense

The Penguins showed on Dec. 7 what a great defensive unit can do and the difference it can make in securing a victory. Their goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 28 saves but the defense stepped up and shut down the Wolf Pack. Filip Kral had three assists but he played the shooting lanes on the defensive end of the ice as well and similarly, Nikolai Knyzhov turned defense into offense as he created turnovers and moved the puck up the ice.

The Wolf Pack have a good defense and the great play from the unit was on full display in the Dec. 6 win. The team had to call up both McCarthy and Christian Berger yet Connor Mackey was the one who stood out as he forced multiple turnovers and broke up a rush chance with a poke check. The defense is good and can play at both ends of the ice, a key for any AHL team, but they aren’t as good as the Penguins, a team that consistently defends well and moves the puck up the ice to set up the offense.

Why the Wolf Pack Are Built For Success

The Wolf Pack are in fifth place in the division with a 10-9-2-1 record and a middle-of-the-pack team at the moment but have the pieces to be better than that. They can rely on Dylan Garand in the net if needed, the goaltending prospect who is having a significantly better season than Louis Domingue. Garand has a .917 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.42 goals-against average (GAA) on 324 shots while Domingue, the starter in the 6-2 defeat, has a .881 SV% and a 3.80 GAA on 352 shots.

The Wolf Pack asked Garand to start consecutive games this week and he delivered. On Dec. 4 against the Bridgeport Islanders, he stopped 31 of the 32 shots in a 6-1 victory, and on Dec. 6 against the IceHogs, he put together a 24-save shutout. The Wolf Pack can lean on him late in the season and in the playoffs, when the games matter more.

The other plus for the Wolf Pack is that their style of hockey is built for the playoffs. They have the forward unit that can forecheck and defend while making an impact in all three zones. The playoffs are when the games slow down and teams need to win with physical play. “We’re coaching for the end of the year,” Potulny noted after the loss to the Penguins and it’s reflected in this team’s play. They might lose a game or two in the winter months but it will help them later on in the season, as Potulny mentioned, “You want to win the games in April or May,” which is when the Calder Cup Playoffs begin.

Along with the style of hockey, the Wolf Pack have elite scoring that can lift them later in the season. Berard will be back in the lineup and so will Othmann. Both skaters won’t play for the team in the coming weeks but they will make an impact in the playoffs as they can take the offense up a notch.

The Wolf Pack aren’t as good as the Penguins and by the end of the season, they won’t be near them in the standings. However, if the two meet in a playoff series, the Wolf Pack can go toe-to-toe with them, even if the recent game suggests otherwise.

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