Hangin’ with the Pack – October 8, 2019

Hi, Shawn here. After much deliberation from you the reader at Blueshirts Breakaway, and answering my poll topic (thanks for those who did), I’ve decided to bring a little insight on the Baby Blueshirts, AKA the Hartford Wolfpack. 

Not only will I be giving you some insight on the games themselves, but I’ll give you the insight on those that matter to you. What did Filip Chytil do? How about Ryan Lindgren or Vitali Kravtsov? Is Igor Shesterkin really living up to the “Prince” moniker Ranger fans have already given him?

In this look at the Hartford Wolfpack, you’ll be able to see insight and opinion (mine) on what I’m thinking of the prospects development and where I think they go from here.

Either way, it’s going to be an exciting ride, a lot of exciting things to speak about, as the Hartford Wolfpack finished this weekend’s slew of games a perfect 2-0-0.

The season kicked off on Saturday with the Wolfpack taking on the defending Calder Cup Champions and defeating the Charlotte Checkers 5-3. Shesterkin was in net, and he looked good for the Wolfpack, especially in the second period as he handled a heavier workload and had to stop more chances as the Checkers were trying to do whatever they could to mount a comeback.

While the Checkers did eventually take control in the third period, climbing back to close the gap, Shesterkin was at the top of his game stopping and keeping the Checkers attempt at a comeback at bay. It was real promising to see him track the puck well. There was one goal I think he would like to have back (the opening goal, which gave the Checkers their only lead), but overall there was a lot to like from Shesterkin’s first start.

Chytil is the team’s second line center. That’s the only thing that should matter for Ranger fans awaiting his return to the big club. If and when it happens (and with the way Ryan Strome has played his first two games, maybe sooner than we think), this is exactly what we wanted to see. 

There was some fear (mainly from me), that Chytil was going to be on the wing in Hartford, and that the center experiment was over for him. Glad I was very wrong with that take. During the game against Charlotte he seemed to slowly get himself into the game, and it wasn’t until the third period that he finally looked comfortable and showed signs of what we should expect from him at center.

It was Sunday’s game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers that I would like to see from him on a consistent basis. Chytil looked dominant, tallying two assists in the second game and also drawing two penalties in the second period of the game against Bridgeport, which is what I would like to see from him on a more consistent basis. If we see what we saw from Chytil the second half of the game against Charlotte and his entire game against Bridgeport, then he’ll be back up in no time.

I guess this is a good time as many to talk about Kravtsov. He started out Saturday on a line with Chytil, and his first couple shifts he was noticeable, and played well. As the game wore on mistakes happened, indecisiveness with the puck happened. It was just an overall disappointing start from the rookie, who during training camp, gave the Rangers a very difficult decision to make, and in the end, decided to send him to Hartford where he would get consistent minutes. It turned by the back half of the second period him talking some shifts on the fourth line and being announced as a healthy scratch for the game against Bridgeport.

I’ll just leave it at this. I don’t agree with the decision to scratch Kravtsov against Bridgeport, nor do I agree with him moving down to the fourth line. The key here is Kravtsov needing to play to work out any mistakes. There is zero reason that he needs to watch games up in the press box. If that decision was for it to be used as a wake-up call, well I hope he wakes up and is ready for the next set of games this upcoming weekend.

Some other notes to take from the first weekend of games:

• Adam Huska, who was in goal for the Wolfpack’s 4-3 overtime win Sunday against Bridgeport was up and down. Positioning seems to be his weakness, and sometimes while good, his puck tracking leaves a lot to be desired. I hope working behind Shesterkin, gives Huska a way to learn from him, and that it can improve his play. Or I fear, once the Wolfpack get into the season and he plays a bit more, we’ll see this team struggle.

• Joey Keane tallied two goals this weekend, and was on the team’s second pair. He looked confident out there driving possession and really was noticeable during both games this past weekend. It’s nice to see as many have written Keane off due to the abundance of defensive depth the Rangers have in their pipeline.

• Lindgren struggled in his first game, but as the game went on, he did get comfortable a bit more, playing on the team’s top pair with Vince LoVerde.He did have a nifty end to end goal against Bridgeport that woke up a very small and quiet Wolfpack crowd.

• Sean Day won it for the Pack in overtime on Sunday, with his own best impression of Lindgren’s end to end goal. There’s been a lot of talk about Day, with his lack of consistency, something I noticed on Saturday against Charlotte where he wasn’t hustling as much and seemed at times to be lost on the ice. Sunday was a totally different game from him.
  
  Could it be because he feels his fate is sealed in New York? With the Rangers getting a ton more defensive depth, he knows he’s not going to really get the chance to make a jump to the big club. Yet, when Day plays, he’s noticeable and dominate. If he showed a consistent level at what we saw Sunday, there’s no doubt in my mind he’d be more of a factor in the Rangers defensive plans.

Hartford is back this Saturday and Sunday against the Springfield Thunderbirds, Saturday at 7:30PM and the Rochester Americans, Sunday at 3:00PM.