The fifth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Maxim Barbashev, decided to sign a one-year AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Thursday, meaning he will stay in the organization even if he did not sign an entry-level contract with the New York Rangers.
After playing four seasons of major junior hockey in the QMJHL, the 20-year-old forward signed an amateur tryout deal with the Wolf Pack in April. He made his professional debut late in the previous season. On April 20, he participated in one game for the Wolf Pack against Springfield, but he did not score any points.
Barbashev weighs 191 pounds and is 6-foot-2. He played for two clubs in the QMJHL last season, totaling 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 59 games. Barbashev scored 15 goals for Moncton the previous season, but in 2022–2023 he scored 32 goals and totaled 65 points in 67 games.
This coming season, he will be a member of the Wolf Pack roster among three other players chosen by the Rangers in the 2022 draft. This group includes defenseman Victor Mancini, who was taken in the fifth round, two positions ahead of Barbashev, forward Adam Sykora (second round), and center Bryce McConnell-Barker (third round).
With just one full season under his belt with Hartford at the age of 19, Sykora is the member of the group with the most professional experience. Recently, Sykora’s persistent play in an article about Rangers prospects earned him the moniker “menace.” In 66 games with Hartford last season, he finished with 23 points (eight goals, fifteen assists).
After McConnell-Barker concluded his junior season with the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL this past spring, he played four games in the Calder Cup Playoffs with Hartford. And Mancini, who finished his college career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, established himself as a mainstay on the Wolf Pack defense unit. In seven AHL regular-season games, the 22-year-old recorded three assists, and in ten postseason games, he added three more.
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