The Hartford Wolf Pack keep hovering just below the line, but the bigger issue right now is how thin their margin for error has become. They’re 7-8-1 after a week that ended with a pair of wins sandwiched around two losses, and the standings only look mildly encouraging until you dig into the details. Hartford is tied for third in the Atlantic Division, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has played four fewer games, and the teams behind the Wolf Pack have each played at least three fewer.
Offense has been the persistent problem. Hartford is averaging just 2.44 goals per game, and 17 of its 39 goals have come on special teams - 16 on the power play and one shorthanded.
That’s a sign of how much the group leans on the man advantage to keep itself afloat. Defensively, the picture is better.
The Wolf Pack’s 2.94 goals-against average isn’t alarming, and under Jay Leach they’ve looked more organized and sturdier than they did a year ago, when they finished last in the overall AHL standings.
Still, there are nights that remind you how far the offense has to go. Wednesday in Hershey was one of them. Hartford managed only 15 shots on goal in a 4-1 loss to the Bears, a game where the Wolf Pack weren’t humiliated so much as clearly outmatched.
The biggest roster development this week came with captain Marc Del Gaizo getting recalled by the Rangers. New York needed him to fill Alberts Smits’ roster spot, and the move is a deserved one for Del Gaizo, who has 11 points in 15 games and has been a key piece for Hartford in every situation. He quarterbacks the power play, skates heavy minutes, and brings the kind of edge and reliability that matters on a team already searching for more scoring.
For now, Del Gaizo is the seventh defenseman in New York, with Matthew Robertson stepping into the lineup in place of Smits on the third pair. Scott Morrow also moved up with Sean Durzi sidelined and on injured reserve with an unspecified injury. Once Durzi or Smits returns, Del Gaizo is expected to head back to Hartford.
Even if the stay is temporary, the Wolf Pack are going to feel it. Del Gaizo is third on the team in points and leads Hartford with nine assists, so this isn’t just a symbolic loss.
The organization has seen a similar situation before, when Jonny Brodzinski was called up during the 2023-24 season and never returned. At that point, Hartford was 12-4-2.
Without him, the Wolf Pack went 22-24-8 the rest of the way and had multiple stretches of at least six straight losses. This situation may not play out the same way, especially if Del Gaizo is back soon, but the effect is worth watching.
One player who has given Hartford a real lift is Liam Greentree. The 20-year-old winger scored twice this week and now leads all AHL rookies with seven goals in 16 games.
Six of those have come on the power play, which fits the way the Wolf Pack offense has functioned so far. Their most dependable scoring comes with the extra man, and Greentree has been at the center of it.
His only even-strength goal came Wednesday against Hershey, when he finished a cross-ice feed from Taylor Raddysh after the goalie was pulled out of position. He scored again Friday with a similar finish on the power play, this time taking a feed from Justin Dowling and putting more force behind it. In the third game of the week, Greentree didn’t score, but he did set up Dowling’s game-tying goal before Drew Fortescue won it in overtime with his first professional goal.
Hartford has already made one corresponding move, recalling defenseman Anthony Kehrer to take Del Gaizo’s place on the roster. Kehrer is 24, undrafted, and on an AHL contract after starting the season with the Worcester Railers in the ECHL.
The Wolf Pack now turn to a two-game set against Springfield, their I-91 rival and one of the teams they’ll see a lot this season. Hartford visits the Thunderbirds on Tuesday, November 10th, at 10:35 AM EST, then hosts them on Saturday, November 14th, at 7:15 PM EST.
It’s the second and third meeting between the clubs, and the first one, on Nov. 1, ended in a 4-2 Hartford win. Now the question is how the Wolf Pack handle the schedule with their captain out of the lineup.
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