The Hartford Wolf Pack’s week opened with a lift and a leadership shakeup.
After snapping a five-game skid by splitting a pair of games over the weekend, Hartford announced on Tuesday that Marc Del Gaizo is now the 16th captain in franchise history. The 27-year-old defenseman takes over from Casey Fitzgerald, who wore the C for the previous two seasons but was not re-signed by the New York Rangers organization this past offseason.
Del Gaizo has been one of Hartford’s most effective blueliners to start the year. Through nine games, he leads the defense and is tied for fourth on the club with five points, piling up one goal and four assists. His edge showed up at Rangers training camp, where he made a strong impression with his gritty style and his willingness to battle towering forward Matt Rempe - who stands 11 inches taller than Del Gaizo - in drills and scrimmages.
“I’m an Italian kid from New Jersey. So you know I have some piss and vinegar in my game,” he told reporters after that first practice.
This is Del Gaizo’s sixth professional season, and most of it has come in the AHL. He also brings 55 NHL games of experience from his time with the Nashville Predators. Hartford’s other alternate captains this season are Anton Blidh, Justin Dowling and Glenn Gawdin.
The weekend also featured a huge performance from James Reimer. On Friday, the 38-year-old NHL veteran, in Hartford on a PTO, made 35 saves in a 2-0 shutout over Providence to keep the Wolf Pack from sliding to a sixth straight defeat. The game marked Hartford’s first home win of the season after the club had been outscored 16-4 in its first three home games combined.
That outing quickly changed Reimer’s immediate future. The Rangers signed him to a one-year contract on Sunday, and then he was in goal 24 hours later at Madison Square Garden against the Los Angeles Kings. That one went poorly: he gave up goals on the first two shots he faced, allowed three on eight shots overall, and was pulled after one period in the Rangers’ 6-3 loss.
Hartford couldn’t carry the Friday momentum into Saturday. The Wolf Pack blew a third-period lead and fell 3-2 on the road to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. That left them at 4-6-0 with eight points, tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division.
Glenn Gawdin kept producing in a larger role. The 29-year-old center, signed by the Rangers as a free agent this summer, entered the season with 471 regular-season AHL games under his belt.
Drafted 116th overall in 2015 by the St. Louis Blues, he never received an entry-level deal from them, but earned one with Calgary after camp in 2017.
His path later took him to Anaheim in 2022 and then to the Kings in 2024.
Gawdin now leads Hartford with eight points, coming on two goals and six assists, in nine games. He comes into the week riding a three-game point streak that includes one goal and four assists. After posting two-assist games in back-to-back outings, including a pair of helpers on third-period goals in Friday’s win to support Reimer, Gawdin added one of Hartford’s two goals on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Another weekend meant another offensive bump from Liam Greentree. The 20-year-old winger, whom the Rangers acquired in the Artemi Panarin trade with the Kings last season, added a goal and an assist this weekend.
He has seven points in 10 games, with four goals and three assists, but all of that damage has come on the power play. Greentree still hasn’t recorded a point at even strength and is minus-8 on the season.
Among AHL rookies, he is tied for fourth in scoring behind Luke Mittelstadt (15), Jesse Kiiskinen (10) and Dylan Hryckowian (8). The production is encouraging, but the next step is showing he can drive offense at five-on-five. For now, he remains the most intriguing prospect in Hartford to watch.
The Wolf Pack have three games on the schedule this week, starting Thursday at 7:00 PM at Hamilton Hammers, the Islanders affiliate, and continuing Friday at 7:00 PM at Belville Senators.
In Other News...
Panarin Just Reopened A Brutal Rangers Reality At MSG
Artemi Panarins return to Madison Square Garden once again put a spotlight on what the Rangers gave up when they moved on from him. In his second visit back since the trade, he was right in the middle of the action, scoring a goal and adding an assist as his new club handled the building with ease. For a Rangers team still trying to settle into life without him, it was another reminder of how quickly an old star can make a new place feel like home.
Panarin has been productive from the start this season, piling up seven goals and four assists in 10 games for the Los Angeles Kings, while the Rangers continue to look for answers from the player they brought in to replace him. Pavel Dorofeyev has managed only three goals in 14 games, and his recent move down to the third line only deepens the concern about whether New York has found the right answer yet. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Still Have One Big Pavel Dorofeyev Debate Hanging Over Them
The Rangers have enough problems without having to worry about one of their big offseason additions, but Pavel Dorofeyevs early stretch in New York has become part of the conversation anyway. In a season where the club has dropped five of its last six and has had to navigate the ripple effects of Igor Shesterkins injury along with its own defensive issues, Dorofeyevs adjustment has been closely watched because he was brought in to help add more bite to the attack.
His numbers through 14 games have lagged a bit behind what he showed with the Vegas Golden Knights, but there are signs he is settling in. Dorofeyev has started to flash more of the offense the Rangers expected, and his recent run of productivity suggests this is still a work in progress rather than a finished judgment on the move. The bigger question now is whether the Rangers can count on that trend to keep building as they try to steady themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospects Are Starting To Build Real Momentum Overseas
A handful of Rangers prospects kept busy overseas last week, and there were signs that the organizations development pipeline is starting to pick up some real traction. Rico Gredig got on the board for EV Zug in Switzerland, while Mikkel Eriksen continued to hold a prominent role for Frjestad BK in Sweden, where he has been seeing top-six minutes and finding ways to stay involved offensively.
For a Rangers system that is always under the microscope, those kinds of updates matter because they show more than just ice time. Gredigs first goal of the season and Eriksens steady work in Sweden were part of a broader stretch that also included other prospects getting reps in their own leagues, a useful sign that several young players are building confidence at once rather than waiting for one breakout to carry the group. [Read more 🡒]