The AHL is a finicky league. NHL clubs heavily prioritize NHL performance (of course), and that’s often at the expense of its AHL club via call-ups and trades. Rosters consist of an eclectic group of players that changes practically every week. What’s more, the focus is on player development even if it sometimes comes at the expense of winning. With all of that chaos, a team can be forgiven if a season doesn’t quite work out.
The Wolf Pack are well beyond that point, though. Barring a monumental turnaround, this will be the fourth-straight season that they will fail to qualify for the AHL playoffs, and fifth out of the last six. If we are to take the Rangers at their word that a competitive NHL team is vital to the development of its young players, then that should be true in the AHL as well.
Whether because of that or a different reason, the young players in Hartford are not progressing as hoped. Lias Andersson and Tim Gettinger started the season well but have plateaued over the last few months. Ville Meskanen and Gabriel Fontaine have been just okay relative to expectations, but certainly not banging on the NHL’s door. Michael Lindqvist was bought out and departed for Sweden after just 16 average games. Beyond them, almost everyone has disappointed. Libor Hájek, Ryan Lindgren, and Brandon Crawley have all had an immensely difficult time on defense with only marginal improvements, while Ryan Gropp, Ty Ronning, and Sean Day have struggled so much that they’ve been demoted to the ECHL at various points in the season.
Therein lies a bigger issue for the Rangers. Wins and losses in the AHL are secondary to player development, and transitioning prospects from the AHL to the NHL has been a massive problem recently. Yes, some credit is deserved for the developments of Brady Skjei, J.T. Miller, and Filip Chytil. However, those are three players who would have almost certainly made the NHL regardless. They were sent to the AHL to figure out finishing touches. A bigger measure of successful AHL development is in turning those 50/50 prospects into capable NHLers. Excluding first-round picks, the most recently graduated player to spend a lengthy stint in Hartford was Jesper Fast in November 2014. We’ll see if Neal Pionk, Boo Nieves, and/or Vinni Lettieri can break that drought, but over four years without the AHL turning a single depth prospect into a legitimate NHLer is calamitous.
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Originally Posted by jsrangers
