by Alex Thomas | AHL On The Beat
June 28, 2014. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
That’s the place to begin for Daniel Walcott’s skilled hockey journey. It was on that day, in that metropolis, the place the New York Rangers made Walcott the one hundred and fortieth general choice within the 2014 NHL Draft.
Lower than a yr later, on Apr. 19, 2015, Walcott made his skilled debut as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack. Little did anybody know that late-season look in opposition to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers could be Walcott’s final as a member of the Wolf Pack for over a decade.
That June, Walcott was moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a commerce. He’d spend 10 seasons within the group, enjoying a franchise-record 494 video games with their AHL affiliate, the SyracuseCrunch.
On Thanksgiving Day 2025, Walcott accomplished his full-circle journey by inking an expert tryout settlement to return to Hartford.
“Any time you get the possibility to place the gear on and play skilled hockey, one step away from the NHL, it’s a privilege,” Walcott mentioned. “It’s onerous to consider it’s been over 10 years since I first wore a Wolf Pack jersey, so coming again in any case this time and reconnecting with a few of the employees has positively felt full-circle. There’s a variety of perspective that comes with time on this league, and I’ve appreciated each second of being again in Hartford.”
Walcott’s return wasn’t one which gave the impression to be within the plans. The veteran ahead entered coaching camp with each the NHL’s Florida Panthers and the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on separate tryouts. It wasn’t till November when the chance to return to Hartford took place.
Walcott joined the Wolf Pack for his first follow on Dec. 1, leaping on a line with rookie forwards Carey Terrance and Kalle Väisänen. His presence was instantly felt on Dec. 5, in his first sport again with the Wolf Pack, when he arrange Väisänen’s first profession AHL objective.
Walcott’s essential objective is to carry out and assist the Wolf Pack return to the Calder Cup Playoffs this spring. He’s additionally nicely conscious that as a veteran on this league, a part of his position isshowing gamers like Terrance and Väisänen the ropes.
It’s one thing he has embraced.
“I take a variety of pleasure in being the perfect teammate I will be, particularly for younger gamers coming into the league,” Walcott mentioned. “Kalle and Carey are extraordinarily gifted, and typically all a participant wants is a reminder of why they’re right here.
“If my power and north-south fashion might help simplify the sport, create area, and permit them to play with confidence, then I’m doing my job. Watching youthful guys develop in the direction of changing into NHL’ers is among the most rewarding elements of being a veteran.”
Coming again to Hartford to be a mentor is barely a part of the full-circle expertise for Walcott this season.
Over 11 years after being drafted, Walcott scored his first objective as a member of the Rangers group on Dec. 20 in opposition to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in an eventual 2-1shootout loss.
It was, fairly actually, a very long time coming.
“It solely took about 11 years to get one as a Wolf Pack, in order that one felt fairly good,” Walcott mentioned with fun. “I’m simply comfortable to have the ability to contribute offensively and assist the group. Clearly, you at all times need these moments to come back in a win, however getting some extent out of that sport nonetheless mattered. It was a particular second, and hopefully the primary of many.”
Maybe probably the most particular second of this season for Walcott got here when made his return to Syracuse to tackle the Crunch on Dec. 13. That sport additionally marked the five hundredth of his AHL profession.
An emotional evening and a milestone evening, suiting up for his as soon as old-team-turned-new-team, in opposition to the group he was part of for a decade.
“Syracuse is the place I actually grew up as an expert each on and off the ice,” he mentioned. “I got here in as a 21-year-old defenseman right into a veteran locker room, discovered from nice leaders, performed for a Calder Cup in my second yr, transitioned to full-time ahead, missed a whole season on account of shoulder surgical procedures, earned my first NHL call-up and sport, and ultimately grew to become the franchise chief in video games performed.
“It’s additionally the place I met my spouse and began our household. All issues which have formed me into the individual and participant I’m at present. To come back again for sport quantity 500 was extremely significant and fairly serendipitous. The Crunch did an unbelievable job with the tribute, and the ovation from the followers made it much more particular. It was a kind of moments that basically places every part into perspective.”
Together with his return to Syracuse and milestone evening now behind him, Walcott can really look to placing his stamp on the Wolf Pack group.
As soon as a younger defenseman with the membership a decade in the past, Walcott is now a veteran chief enjoying on the wing who’s trying to information the subsequent era of younger Wolf Pack gamers into the long run.
Full circle certainly.
