Brett Berard went from playing college hockey at Providence College to leading his first professional hockey team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, in goals in just one year.
The little splash that the 22-year-old made in the American Hockey League last season, when he posted 25 goals and 23 assists in 71 games, certainly gave him a boost on the Rangers’ radar.
So much so that Berard lined up on the left wing of Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere in Tuesday night’s exhibition win over the Islanders, a golden opportunity that not every prospect gets.
Realistically, Berard is not on pace to make the opening night roster this season barring an unforeseen turn of events, but evidently his stock is trending upward and his NHL debut may not be so far off.
The 134th-overall pick in 2020 is coming up on his fifth year in the Rangers organization, and Berard was set on making a significant impression this training camp.
“I think that’s my mindset every camp — but especially now after the first full year pro,” he said after participating in the morning session of the Rangers practice on Wednesday in Tarrytown. “You don’t really know where you stand or what the lineup may look like, but you just kind of want to come in here and do the best you can and raise your hand and show that you’re here. That’s what I’ve been trying to do, and hopefully continue to build off of.”
Berard, an undersized forward who can make up for it with his skill and determination, finished with three giveaways in 10:45 of ice time in the comeback victory over the Isles.
While training in Boston this offseason, Berard lived with Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers, his longtime best friend. The two were linemates from the time they were five years old until college.
It allowed Berard to work out and learn from Beniers, who is entering his fourth NHL season after being drafted second overall in 2021.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Berard sounded pleased with how his game translated to the AHL, but he focused on improving his speed. In addition to working on it in the summer, Rangers skating coach Dawn Braid came down to Hartford once a month and helped last season.
In getting to spend some time with the main group this training camp, Berard has gotten a chance to learn from some of the Rangers veterans. Chris Kreider was showing both Berard and Brennan Othmann some of his net-front tips and tricks.
“It’s super cool,” Berard said of learning from Kreider. “He’s an unbelievable player. He’s super fun to watch. I mean, even Tuesday night, just watching him and helping the team come back — it’s pretty special. He’s got that move down, those goals that he scores on the power play, just on the goal and it’s just a redirection. In college, in Hartford last year, I’m playing a lot of goal line on the power play. So it was cool for him to teach me and maybe something that I can continue to work on and try to maybe get some more goals out of that or create more chances.”
Artemi Panarin, who suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s game, did not participate in practice on Wednesday and is considered day-to-day.
Laviolette declined to comment on the severity of the injury, but he did say he hopes Panarin gets another preseason game.
Without Ryan Lindgren, who the Rangers classified as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Connor Mackey skated with Adam Fox.
K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba remained intact, while Chad Ruhwedel and Braden Schneider forged a pairing. Zac Jones also lined up alongside Victor Mancini.
