New York Rangers: Adam Huska loaned to Slovakian team

Another New York Rangers prospect will be getting valuable playing time in Europe

As first reported by NHLRumors.com, New York Rangers goaltending prospect Adam Huska is being loaned to HKM Zvolen in Slovakia.   It’s a homecoming for Huska who is from Zvolen and played for their U18 team before coming to North America.  MKN Zvolen is in the Tipsport Liga, the top hockey league in Slovakia and they are scheduled to begin regular season play on October 2.

Blueline Station first speculated on Huska potentially going to Slovakia to play after it was announced that Vitali Kratvsov was going to play for Traktor in the KHL.  With Yegor Rykov currently playing for CSKA Moscow, it means that three members of the Hartford Wolf Pack will getting valuable playing time while their teammates are waiting for the AHL season to start.

Huska’s return was reported on the HMK Zvolen website and he has already arrived and is practicing with the team. In a rough translation, he told the site “The club wants me as well prepared as possible at the beginning of the season and as long as there is a possibility for me to be in matches , we know what the situation is in the world, so I decided that I wanted to go to Slovakia. We agreed to help by the end of November. ”   He acknowledged the the team already has two goalies and that he is with the team temporarily.

The HMK general manager said that talks with the Rangers had been going on for a while. Ladislav Ćierny said “As the start of the season overseas has been postponed, we communicated intensively with the Rangers management about the possibility of a temporary contract between Adam Huska and the parent club. We are very happy that we succeeded and we believe that he will also help our club in his preparation for the new year. ”

Huska, 23,  was drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the year he came to North America to play in the USHL for the Green Bay Gambler.  He spent three years at the University of Connecticut and signed his Entry Level Contract in 2018.

This season was his first full season as a pro and he split duties in Hartford with Igor Shesterkin.  He had an 11-8-6 record in 28 games with a 3.03 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.  He is destined to spend next season in Hartford as the number on goalie though he will be challenged by recent signed Tyler Wall.

The Rangers are lucky that there was a place for Huska to play in Europe.  With the NHL season postponed and scheduled to start in December, a number of young players have tried to play in Europe until the season starts in North America.  There are not a lot of roster positions open, especially in leagues like the KHL, SHL and Liiga.