Rangers Return Goaltender Hugo Ollas to ECHL's Bloomington Bison

The turnaround was swift. Three days after Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury recalled goaltender Hugo Ollas from Bloomington to Hartford, Drury sent him right back. The April 5 reassignment returned the 23-year-old to the ECHL's Bloomington Bison, capping a brief AHL pit stop that lasted less than a week.

Ollas, called up from Bloomington around April 2, posted a 0-0-1 record in his Wolf Pack appearances this season, stopping shots at an .880 save percentage with a 4.57 goals-against average before the organization decided consistent ECHL starts were the better play. Late-season roster management routinely produces this kind of rapid up-and-down movement, and the Bloomington Bison, the ECHL affiliate of both the Rangers and Wolf Pack, was right there waiting.

The 6-foot-8, 253-pound native of Linköping, Sweden is one of the tallest goaltenders in professional hockey, and his frame has long been both his calling card and his question mark. DobberProspects describes him as "a highly technical goaltender who can sometimes rely on his 6-8 frame to cover the entirety of the net," while The Hockey Writers called him "a rough goalie prospect with an incredibly high ceiling." Hockey News writer Stan Fischler acknowledged the size as an asset but flagged mobility as a concern, a scouting debate that has followed Ollas since his days in Sweden's SHL with Linköping HC.

Selected by the Rangers in the 2020 NHL Draft as the second goaltender the organization chose that year, Ollas spent three seasons at Merrimack College before turning pro. With the Warriors, he went 27-27-0 with a .914 save percentage, a 2.48 goals-against average, and six shutouts across 60 games in Hockey East. His AHL debut came on April 20, 2024, against the Springfield Thunderbirds: 14 saves, first career AHL victory.

This season with Bloomington, Ollas went 5-4-3 with a .896 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average before the brief Hartford detour. He has now appeared in 51 ECHL games across two seasons, split between the Bison and the Worcester Railers.

The contract clock is ticking. Ollas enters restricted free agency after the 2025-26 season, meaning this is his final audition under his entry-level deal. By returning him to Bloomington rather than keeping him in Hartford for occasional relief work, the Rangers are betting that regular starts serve his development better than sitting on the Wolf Pack bench. For a goaltender whose ceiling still draws legitimate debate, the reps matter more than the address.