HARTFORD, Conn. — Adam Sýkora and Jaroslav Chmelař have developed a routine in their second season sharing an apartment. On off days, Sýkora usually makes breakfast and lunch, and Chmelař handles dinner.
The cuisines from their native countries — Slovakia for Sýkora and the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, for Chmelař — are similar, making each meal feel like a taste of home.
“We try to keep the European style,” Sýkora said after Thursday’s Hartford Wolf Pack practice at PeoplesBank Arena. He smiled and added, “Save some money, too.”
Whether the food has anything to do with it or it’s purely coincidental, the New York Rangers winger prospects are among Hartford’s few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season.
When asked which forwards have experienced the most significant growth, Wolf Pack coach Grant Potulny began by pointing to the roommates.
“You talk about consistency, I know what I’m going to get from them every day,” Potulny said. “Some days they’re going to make more plays than other days, but what those two guys are doing, I think, is what you hope for out of young players. You take that big leap at that age, and now all of a sudden Jaro got games (with the Rangers) and Adam is playing well for us.”
Sýkora and Chmelař began the season in Hartford’s bottom six. Still, the combination of their improving play and the Rangers’ call-ups of multiple prospects has led to prominent deployment for both. They each skated in the Wolf Pack’s top six during Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Providence Bruins, as they have for much of the new year, with Sýkora notching a goal and an assist.
“I’ve gotten much more confident with the puck,” Sýkora said. “I’m trying to play more with the puck. Don’t only chip it in and chase it. I’m trying to make some plays sometimes, if the play is there. I think the biggest problem last year was maybe turnovers.”
“Puck management last year was an issue for him,” Potulny added. “There’s a pile of guys there, but this ice is open over here. I think he’s recognizing that a little bit more. He’s getting a lot more scoring chances than he got last year. I think he’s a little snakebit, but he scores in practice a lot, and that’s a good sign of what’s to come.”
The 2022 second-round pick has made notable strides with his puck skills and decision-making, but he’s under no illusions about what he described as “my path to the NHL.” It’s not Sýkora’s 21 points (nine goals and 12 assists) through 50 games that will earn that call, but rather his dogged forechecking and high-speed motor. He’s become one of Hartford’s most trusted defensive players and is the only forward on the active roster with a positive plus-minus rating (plus-2).
“He’s an incredible penalty killer,” Potulny said. “If we’re up a goal at the end of the game, there’s no doubt that he’s going out on the first pairing to close the game out.”
Sýkora was hoping to showcase those skills at the recently completed Olympics, but said he just missed the cut for a Slovakian team that grabbed headlines with its run to the semifinals.
“Before the (selections) went out, (coach Vladimír Országh) told me I’m one of the first guys if somebody gets injured,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m ready in any way.’ I’ve been supporting them and watching every game.”
Despite this being Sýkora’s third full AHL season, still waiting for his NHL debut is less concerning than it might be for others in his position. Potulny pointed to the fact he’s only 21, adding, “Most guys that are 21 are just becoming a pro.”
Sýkora is doing his part to stay patient and maintain the jovial attitude he’s been praised for since joining New York’s organization. The losing stings, but he says it hasn’t diminished his love for the game or the pursuit of his career goals.
“I’m enjoying it the same way as the first year,” he said. “That’s the only thing (I can control), is how I handle myself. Just put in the work, put in the energy, enjoy it every day, have fun on the ice with the guys. I feel like we’ve got a nice group of guys, a nice team, so I feel pretty comfortable saying something between the periods, or supporting on the bench.
“Always be alive, and those small details. That’s kind of my role, too, on the bench, because I’m really energetic. I’m trying to put those guys in a better spot and have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Carey Terrance’s learning curve
The only player on the Wolf Pack roster who’s younger than Sýkora is Carey Terrance, a 20-year-old center prospect who turned pro this season after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks as part of summer’s Chris Kreider trade.
The transition has come with predictable growing pains and underwhelming production, with only six points (three goals and three assists) through 50 games, but Potulny said the numbers shouldn’t judge Terrance. He’s being prepared for a specific role and has shown an eagerness to learn in that capacity.
“If he was in here (and) you asked him, ‘What’s your goal?’ he’d go, ‘To be a fourth-line center in the NHL,’” Potulny said. “Very few young guys recognize what their skill set is. He’s been awesome.”
Terrance echoed those sentiments while speaking about the adjustment from captaining the OHL’s Erie Otters to playing bottom-six minutes with Hartford.
“I think that’s the way that I’m going to get my foot in the door,” the 2023 second-round pick said. “When I was at the World Juniors (with Team USA), I was kind of in the same position. Put out on the ice to be kind of a shutdown guy and play PK, and be relied on. Coming into this year, I think I understood that’s the role I was going to be put in, and I can excel in that role.”
Potulny quickly recognized those strengths and has leaned on Terrance in defensive situations. He’s one of the Wolf Pack’s top penalty-killing forwards, often alongside veteran Anton Blidh, and has been tested at times by matching up against opposing teams’ top lines.
“There’s a reason he played on the World Junior team two times,” Potulny said. “There’s a reason why, when they’re trying to close out the game in the gold medal game, he’s taking shifts for guys that are now in the (NHL). It’s because he has the coach’s trust.”
Though that part of Terrance’s game has impressed, there’s been hesitation on the offensive side. His scoring ceiling is considered limited, but the 6-foot-1, 187-pounder believes he can contribute more by “taking my space” and being more assertive with the puck. It’s been a point of emphasis in conversations with coaches and teammates.
“It’s obviously challenging,” Terrance said. “Everyone’s faster, everyone’s bigger coming from junior to pro, but for me, it’s looking back at video from the last game. In this situation, I have the puck in the corner. I could have skated more instead of putting it back around to create a cycle. It’s asking questions of the coaches when we get back on the bench: ‘Could I have done a little bit more there?’”
Terrance not only mentioned a couple of veterans, Blidh and Justin Dowling, whom he’s leaned on for advice, but also pointed to fellow prospect Brennan Othmann. Othmann is with the Rangers now and has been for a chunk of the season but started in Hartford and opened his door to the first-year pro.
“Otter did a great job with me in the beginning of the season,” Terrance said. “He actually took me in for a month, kind of showed me the ropes until my apartment opened up. He did a great job with me, driving me everywhere and bringing me to the rink and helping me get settled in.”
Prospect odds and ends
• A total of 10 players have appeared in games for both the Rangers and the Wolf Pack this season, with none shuffling back and forth between New York and Hartford as frequently as Brett Berard. The 23-year-old winger was recalled last week for a team-high fifth time, continuing a yo-yo season that hasn’t gone according to plan at either level.
After playing in 35 NHL games as a rookie last season and spending his summer training at Prentiss Hockey Performance in Stamford, Berard seemed poised to make a jump in Year 2. He was the last player cut out of training camp but has failed to record a point in 13 sporadic games with the Rangers. The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder has put up only 18 points (six goals and 12 assists) in 34 games with the Wolf Pack, as well, but says he’s trying to approach each recall as a fresh opportunity.
“It definitely challenges my mental toughness,” Berard said after Sunday’s Rangers practice at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, N.Y. “Whether it’s injuries or guys coming back from injury, or my play not being where it needs to be — I mean, sometimes it’s out of your control, sometimes it is. It stinks getting sent down, but every time you get called up, I try to treat it as first day of the season. I get another chance to try to stick around here and kind of make a name for myself and build on what I did last year.”
“Maybe the points aren’t where it needs to be or where I would like it to be, but I feel like that’s not necessarily my game, either,” he added. “I would like to produce more to help the team win, but I’m also not focusing on points too much. I think what makes me successful is my feistiness, my competitiveness as a player, playing up and down the lineup, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Brett Berard’s second season with the Rangers hasn’t gone as planned in the NHL or the AHL. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
• Another forward prospect who’s struggled to build on an encouraging 2024-25 campaign is Dylan Roobroeck. The 21-year-old center led Hartford with 20 goals as an AHL rookie, but he’s managed only 20 total points (nine goals and 11 assists) through 50 games this season. Four of those points came in his last two games, though, with the 6-7, 205-pounder seemingly benefiting from increased opportunity. Roobroeck has been centering the second line between Sýkora and leading scorer Trey Fix-Wolansky, resulting in his first 3-point game of the season in Sunday’s win.
• Potulny pointed to a couple of veterans, Connor Mackey and team captain Casey Fitzgerald, as his top two defensemen: “We rely on them a lot.” But among the younger D who maintain prospect status, Jackson Dorrington is a name to watch.
Part of the package that came over from the Vancouver Canucks in last season’s J.T. Miller trade, the 21-year-old left shot isn’t much of a point producer (7 points through 48 games) but has “made big steps from last year,” according to his coach.
“When he’s playing his best, he plays an aggressive, physical brand of hockey,” Potulny said. “Defends well, blocks shots, not afraid of the rough stuff. I think he knows what his identity is, and when he plays to that, he’s happy and we’re happy.”
• At the time of The Athletic’s visit, the Wolf Pack were only three days removed from an embarrassing 9-0 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Feb. 16. Potulny described it as “the worst game that any of us have ever been a part of.” It marked Hartford’s seventh loss in eight games and the latest low point in a season that’s featured more than a few of them.
“A game like that, there’s no video necessary, but there’s definitely meetings — team meetings and individual meetings — that are necessary to make sure that we own it,” Potulny said. “(Then) you wash it with a hard practice.”
The Wolf Pack responded with a solid weekend, starting with a tight 2-1 loss to the Utica Comets on Friday before winning back-to-back against the Belleville Senators and Providence by a combined 9-2 margin Saturday and Sunday. Potulny said they’ve played better than their 19-25-4-2 record indicates, but a lack of skilled finishers and a tendency toward third-period implosions have been costly.
“If you remember what it was like for the Rangers to start the year, when they were playing good hockey but they just couldn’t get wins, that’s us right now,” he said. “We’re playing (well). The eye test tells you. The analytics tell you. We’re just having a hard time separating in games.”