Rangers towering prospect Dylan Roobroeck scores 20th goal for AHL Hartford in season finale
Dylan Roobroeck closed out his first professional season with an emphatic exclamation point Friday. The New York Rangers forward prospect scored his 20th goal to help the Hartford Wolf Pack defeat Bridgeport 4-1 in their season finale.
The 20-year-old wired home a shot from between the circles off the rush at 12:21 of the second period for his 20th goal. It ended up to be the game-winner in the final game of the season. Like their parent club, the Rangers, the Wolf Pack failed to qualify for the playoffs this season.
But that didn’t mean this season wasn’t a success for Roobroeck, who led Hartford in goal scoring and finished fourth on the team with 34 points. He was one of 11 American Hockey League rookies to score 20 goals this season; Bradly Nadeau of the Chicago Wolves scored 30 in 63 games, and is now playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, who face off against the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After a slow start to the season, Roobroeck finished strong, scoring nine goals in his final 12 games, including three two-goal performances.
It’s the second straight season that a rookie pro led Hartford in goal scoring. Brett Berard had 25 goals last season, and fellow first-year forward Brennan Othmann wasn’t far behind with 21. Each began this season with Hartford and finished with the Rangers.
Berard had six goals and 10 points in 35 NHL games this season, including a two-goal game earlier in April against the Islanders. Othmann failed to score a goal in 22 games with the Rangers, and had two assists.
Though not as highly-touted a prospect as Othmann (a 2021 first-round pick) nor Berard, Roobroeck opened eyes this season after the 6-foot-7 center scored 26 goals with Oshawa in the OHL a year ago. A sixth-round pick (No. 178 overall) in the 2023 draft, Roobroeck forced his way into the conversation as a possible option at the center position down the road.
Related: Breaking down the 16 former Rangers playing in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Prospects Dylan Roobroeck, Noah Laba provide Rangers depth at center
Noah Laba – photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack
Speaking of future depth at the center position, Noah Laba had a goal and an assist against Bridgeport. The 22-year-old, a fourth-round pick (No. 111 overall) by the Rangers in 2022, scored three goals and totaled five points in 11 games with Hartford after joining the Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout (ATO) after he concluded his NCAA career at Colorado College.
Laba signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Rangers on March 21 and then scored a short-handed goal in his professional debut with Hartford against Hershey three days later.
Like Roobroeck, Laba finished strong with four points (two goals, two assists) in his final three games of the AHL season.
A solid two-way center, who played three years at the collegiate level and scored 20 goals in 36 games with Colorado in 2023-24, Laba is considered the better NHL prospect and could be in the mix for playing time with the Rangers next season. Roobroeck, though, put himself on the map with a strong rookie pro campaign.
Goalie prospect Dylan Garand stopped 23 of 24 shots against Bridgeport to earn his career-high 20th win. His .913 save percentage tied for 10th-best in the AHL and he finished with a 2.73 goals-against average in the best of his three pro seasons.
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