Rangers Recall Brodzinski, Adam Edström, Reassign Mackey to Hartford
The New York Rangers have recalled forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Adam Edström from the Hartford Wolf Pack. Additionally, they have assigned defenseman Connor Mackey back to Hartford with Adam Fox due to return from LTIR tomorrow.
As a result of Kaapo Kakko going down with what looks to be a pretty serious lower-body injury, the decision to recall a forward doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Jonny Brodzinski has been the organization’s go-to recall for the last couple of years and has already appeared in one game with the Rangers this season. In 16 games with Hartford in the AHL this year, Brodzinski is on well over a point per game pace with 11 goals and 14 assists for a total of 25 points.
The decision to recall Adam Edström comes as a bit of a surprise as he has yet to play a full season of professional hockey in North America. The 23 year old forward was a sixth round draft pick for the Rangers back in 2019 and has spent the majority of his hockey career playing over in Sweden. Last year was the first time Edström suited up in professional games on North American ice as he appeared in three games with the Wolf Pack towards the end of the season. In that small sample size, Edström found the back of the net once but through Hartford’s first 18 games this season, he has registered 7 goals and 2 assists for a total of 9 points.
Many people may be curious as to why the Rangers went with Edström over a guy like Brennan Othmann who is among their top ranked prospects in the system. It’s fair to assume the Rangers don’t want to rush Othmann’s development as it’s taken some time for him to find his footing in the AHL. Edström on the other hand is tied for second on the Wolf Pack with seven goals on the season and is more physically built to make the jump to the NHL at 6”8, 225 lbs. Edström has also been playing top-six minutes on the right side despite being a left hand shot, meaning he should be able to slot right into Kakko’s place on the third line with Will Cuylle and Nick Bonino.
While no official update on Kakko has been announced as of 11 a.m. this morning, it’s safe to assume with the Rangers deciding to recall both Brodzinski and Edström, that neither Chytil or Kakko are going to be returning to the lineup anytime soon. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what Edström can do at the NHL level if they opt to go with him over Brodzinski in tomorrow’s game against the Red Wings. We know Brodzinski is capable of slotting in anywhere in the lineup so regardless of who replaces Kakko, the Rangers should be more than capable of going about their business, especially with Fox likely back in the picture.
