Cole Beaudoin wasted no time in making an impression in his first professional season. The former OHL superstar with the Barrie Colts broke out in his professional debut, scoring a goal and adding two assists in a 5-2 win for the Hartford Wolf Pack over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the first game of the season.
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Beaudoin followed that up with a pair of assists against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He did not look at all like a rookie through his first two games. In fact, he looked like he might be ready for something more.
The New York Rangers agreed, recalling the 20-year-old acquired from the Utah Mammoth as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade. The club had an opening at forward due to an injury to Joe Veleno and made the decision to bring up one of their top prospects.
UPDATE: #NYR has recalled Cole Beaudoin from the Hartford Wolf Pack. In addition, defenseman Matthew Robertson has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack. pic.twitter.com/gaoexGNZUY
— Hartford Wolf Pack (@HWPHockey) October 6, 2026
Beaudoin was a first-round pick, 24th overall in 2024 by Utah. He went to the Rangers along with Sean Durzi and a third-round pick with U.S. Olympian Vincent Trocheck going the other way. Losing Beaudoin was a bit of a steep price to pay for Utah, but they got some needed veteran help and have some depth at the center position in their prospect system.
As a result, the Rangers were able to get a player that has a number of NHL attributes, showing pretty much all of them in his first weekend in the AHL.
Five points in his first two games, both of which were on the road, was an especially impressive showing. Head coach Jay Leach came away impressed, according to Inside AHL's Tony Androckitis. Here was Beaudoin's own assessment of his game:
"That's my game to a T. It's forecheck, hunt pucks & make plays."
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) October 5, 2026
After five points (1G-4A) in his first five periods of pro hockey, Cole Beaudoin made quite the first impression with @HWPHockey this weekend.
Full interview @InsideAHLHockey ⤵️ https://t.co/2I6M9GQ35q pic.twitter.com/7Drqohbzw1
What stood out to me in the games, both of which I watched over the weekend, was that Beaudoin plays such a mature, heady game. We already knew that from how well he played in Barrie last season. But there's always a doubt about a player doing that against U20 players and how they'll look against pros.
Beaudoin was ahead of the pace, making plays and he was around the puck a ton. There is very little that is flashy about Beaudoin's game. He's efficient. That has always been evident, but to see it work against pros was affirming based on his rapid growth as a young player.
Now another big step awaits as Beaudoin will have the chance to step into an NHL lineup. The only question at this point is if we'll ever see him back in the AHL.
A burly 6-foot-2, 212-pound center who doesn't get pushed off pucks, has enough touch to create offensively and has the know-how to be a strong two-way player is going to endear himself to NHL coaches quickly.
I figured Beaudoin would jump into the NHL lineup at some point this season. I did not expect it after just two AHL games. Just goes to show you how convincing those two games were.
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