Rangers prospect Noah Laba ‘exactly as advertised,’ scores goal in pro debut for AHL Hartford
It’s been a memorable week for New York Rangers prospect Noah Laba.
The 21-year-old center played his final NCAA game Sunday when Colorado College lost to Denver and was eliminated in the NCHC postseason tournament. On Tuesday, he signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers, who selected Laba in the fourth round (No. 111 overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Since that contract begins next season, Laba also agreed to an amateur tryout agreement with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League. On Friday, he made quite the first impression in his professional debut with the Rangers’ top minor-league affiliate.
Laba scored on a short-handed breakaway 8:17 into the first period against Hershey, tying the score 1-1. Anton Blidh intercepted a pass in the Wolf Pack zone and saw Laba read the play perfectly and take off up left wing. Blidh hit him with a perfect pass, and Laba did the rest with a sweet finish for his first professional goal.
“Really fortunate that the coaching staff put trust in me to put me on the [penalty] kill. It’s something I’ve been doing for a long time, for a few years throughout college. So, I’m pretty confident in it,” Laba explained postgame.
“I think I’m a true 200-foot center. I’m good in the D-zone and use my feet to create offense on the rush.”
Wolf Pack coach Grant Potulny said after the game that he tried to recruit Laba to Northern Michigan, when he coached there prior to being hired by Hartford this season. So, he wasn’t surprised at all by Laba’s impressive pro debut.
“Exactly as advertised, big strong athlete, he can make a play,” Potulny said. “I think this was a pretty good indication of what we are going to see out of Noah going forward. I thought it was a really good first game.”
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Noah Laba — Photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack
In 2023-24, Laba led Colorado College with 20 goals and 37 points in 36 games. He had seven game-winning goals that season as a sophomore.
So good was Laba already at that point that the Rangers tried to sign him last spring. But Laba decided to stay in college for one more season.
Laba missed time this season because of injury, but still appeared in 29 games and tied for the team lead with 10 goals and was second with 26 points. He also was a team-best plus-10 and won 57.3 percent of his face-offs.
Among his highlights this season, Laba recorded a hat trick against Minnesota-Duluth on Jan. 17 and had four assists against Northern Michigan on Nov. 12. He had three points (one goal, two assists) when Colorado College lost to Denver in three games in the NCHC playoffs last week.
Perhaps Laba’s arrival in Hartford sparked a pair of Rangers forward prospects on Friday. Dylan Roobroeck (sixth round, 2023 draft) scored two goals, including the game-winner at 14:34 of the third period, and added an assist for a three-point night in the 4-3 win.
Bryce McConell-Barker (third round, 2022) started Hartford’s comeback from 3-1 down with his seventh goal at the 10-minute mark of the second period. Roobroeck scored the next two and now has 15 goals in his rookie pro season, tied for third-most on the Wolf Pack.
Laba and his fellow baby Rangers are right back at it Saturday when Hartford hosts Milwaukee.
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