Haggerty is also in the mix. It's not going to be easy.
The Haggerty love here at these boards seems misplaced to me.
We fall in love with the new guy, the flavor-of-the-month.
Haggerty has potential to be a solid NHL player, but IMHO it won't be this year, maybe not even next. That's ok, he's only 21.
He put up great stats as the go-to shooter for a talent-shallow, ~.500 team.
He's not especially fast or physical.
From his March 12 signing date, last spring he could've had ~5 weeks with HWP coaches/players, and played up to 16 games for Hartford on a ATO, by not activating his contract until this year (McCarthy signed with NYR 3/31, but signed an ATO w HWP on 4/1).
Anyway, I wont be surprised if the young wing prospect who gets a serious look ahead of Kristo, Haggerty, (Hayes) or McCarthy is Marek Hrivik.
It's been 2 years since he was the shiny new penny, but he's a year younger than Kristo. He has more of an NHL-ready body, a 2-way up-and-down the wing game, with some O-zone skill..
He just might grab the Pouliot spot.