Talking Pack: The 2026-27 Hartford Wolf Pack Season Preview
After a difficult season last year, can a rebuilt Wolf Pack team earn their way back into the playoffs?
On April 17, the Hartford Wolf Pack exited home ice to raucous cheers. They had won their final home game of the season, scoring five unanswered goals to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 7-5 win over their rivals, the Springfield Thunderbirds. It was a great season finale for the Hartford faithful.
However, the win didn't change anything about the Wolf Pack's season. One day later, their campaign wrapped up with a last-place finish, ending the season 32nd out of 32 AHL teams. It was the first time the Wolf Pack have finished in last place league-wide since the 2016-17 season.
The extended offseason brought about top-to-bottom change in Hartford. A new coaching staff and a rebuilt roster will take the ice this weekend with an eye on returning to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2024. Today, we'll preview the Wolf Pack's 2026-27 season.
Changing of the Guard
The first move the Wolf Pack made this offseason came behind the bench. After two straight disappointing seasons that saw the club miss the playoffs, the New York Rangers relieved Hartford head coach Grant Potulny, plus assistants Jamie Tardif and Paul Mara, of their duties on May 3.
One month later, the Wolf Pack had their next head coach. The team named Jay Leach as the ninth head coach in team history, bringing the former defenseman back to the AHL following five seasons as an assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken and Boston Bruins. Leach was also an assistant coach under Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2015-16 season.
"When you're as well traveled as myself, you have quite a few of those types of connections," Leach told Blueshirt Banter at Wolf Pack media day on Monday. "Sully's been a great mentor for myself. Coming here under him just feels like a nice fit."
Leach will be joined on the bench by associate coach Bob Woods, a three-time Calder Cup champion with the Hershey Bears as both a player and coach, and assistant coach John Stevens, a longtime AHLer and 2025 Calder Cup Champion with the Abbotsford Canucks who now begins his coaching career.
Leach and his crew have two asks for their team to start the season: play fast and play competitive.
"Everyone's gonna say [play faster]," Leach told Blueshirt Banter. "But I'd like to be predictable in the way we move the puck. [Hockey is] such a free-flowing game, but there are instances throughout a game where you can be predictable, which will allow for us to look faster and play faster."
In terms of competitiveness, Leach noted that he "prides himself on being competitive, and wants the same for him team. A young and hungry team in Hartford is the perfect group to latch on to Leach's message.
