Rangers Relieve Wolf Pack Coaching Staff of Duties
The Wolf Pack are officially making a coaching change following a last-place finish in the 2025-26 season.
On Sunday evening, the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack made their first major move of the offseason. The clubs jointly announced that the Hartford coaching staff had been relieved of their duties. Head coach Grant Potulny, plus assistant coaches Jamie Tardif and Paul Mara, were dismissed from the club.
UPDATE: Grant Potulny, Jamie Tardif, and Paul Mara have been relieved of their coaching duties with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
— Hartford Wolf Pack (@HWPHockey) May 3, 2026
The move comes following Hartford's dismal finish to the 2025-26 season. The Wolf Pack ended the campaign with a record of 26-38-5-3, good for 60 points. That placed them in last in the entire American Hockey League, the first time the Wolf Pack have finished in last place league-wide since the 2016-17 season, where their 54 points through 76 games saw them finish 30th out of 30 teams.
Potulny joined the Wolf Pack before the 2024-25 season following seven seasonas as the head coach at Northern Michigan University. In Potulny's two seasons at the helm, the Wolf Pack posted a combined 56-71-12-5 record, failing to make the playoffs in both campaigns. It was a step back for the team, who went on two straight trips to the Atlantic Division Finals in the two years before Potulny's hiring under Kris Knoblauch and Steve Smith, respectively.
Tardif joined the team for the 2022-23 season, serving under Knoblauch, Smith, and Potulny. He served as an assistant coach with the OHL's Soo Greyhounds before joining Hartford.
Mara was added the crew midway through the 2023-24 season after Smith was promoted to interim head coach following Knoblauch's departure for the Edmonton Oilers. He previously spent five seasons as head coach of the PHF's Boston Pride and joined the Rangers as a development coach before his addition to the Hartford bench.
Ultimately, the results speak for themselves. The Wolf Pack finished at or near the bottom of the AHL in each of the last two campaigns. While there were some positives on the developmental side of things, the poor record and lack of playoff qualification make the dismissal of the staff an unsurprising end to their tenure in Hartford.
The team will begin their search for a replacement immediately as they gear up for the 2026-27 season, their 30th in the Connecticut capital. Wolf Pack general manager Ryan Martin will lead the search for his new bench boss as Hartford aims to return to the Calder Cup Playoffs next season.
