Fix-Wolansky earns top star as AHL honors Friday standouts

Trey Fix-Wolansky put himself back in the spotlight Friday, and the AHL rewarded him by naming the Hartford Wolf Pack forward its first star of the night. In a league race tightening by the day, that kind of recognition says more than a single box score entry: Fix-Wolansky has become one of the names to watch as the regular season pushes into its final stretch.

The honor fits a run that already made him impossible to ignore. Earlier in the month, Fix-Wolansky was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week after piling up five goals and two assists in three games, helping Hartford close to within four points of a playoff position in the Atlantic Division. One of the clearest snapshots of that stretch came in Hartford’s 6-0 win over Bridgeport on March 6, when Fix-Wolansky scored twice and added an assist. That is the kind of production that can turn a strong week into a real case for bigger postseason responsibility.

Connor Murphy took second star and Ellis Rickwood finished third, giving the AHL’s Friday list a familiar late-season feel: a mix of players forcing attention now, not later. For Murphy, the recognition should sharpen the conversation around playoff usage, especially in a standings race where every dependable shift matters. For Rickwood, the third-star nod gives Texas another reminder of the depth that has carried the Stars through the second half.

Texas has become one of the league’s clearest comeback stories. The Stars clinched a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 3-1 home win over the Chicago Wolves on April 3 in Cedar Park, Texas, and theAHL.com has described them as one of the league’s most dangerous clubs in the second half after early-season struggles. With Texas already locked into the Central Division field, performances like Rickwood’s carry extra weight because they shape who gets trusted when the games start getting tighter and the margin for error disappears.

Calgary is still grinding through the Pacific Division picture, which makes Murphy’s recognition just as meaningful. In a stretch where standings movement can alter ice time, special-teams roles and postseason opportunity, Friday’s three stars were less a ceremony than a snapshot of who is forcing his way onto the radar at the right moment.