The Rangers drafted young prospect Brett Berard in the 5th round of the NHL Draft after the World Juniors. Berard may be a smaller forward, standing at only 5’9, but he’s turning a lot of heads, showing how he was a steal in the draft. Jeff Gorton and the Rangers found a gem, and here’s why.
Brett Berard, who played very limited minutes on the 3rd line for Team USA in the World Juniors, showed signs of growth, speed, and toughness. Berard did everything he needed to do to take the puck away and force turnovers that turned into very good scoring chances for the USA.
Berard’s game vs Austria really showed what he can bring to the table for the Rangers. Despite their crushing victory against Austria 11-0, Berard showed an impressive power move to the net, putting it past the Austrian netminder and crashing into the boards for an awesome goal. He used his power, strength, and speed to his advantage in order to put it in the back of the net.
As previously mentioned, the Rangers took Berard in the 5th round. He fell this late in the draft primarily due to his lack of size at and the fact that he isn’t a player who is going to give you a 60 point season like Chris Kreider. However, he will bring a lot of toughness and speed to the lineup and will force his opponent to make bad decisions with the puck, generating scoring chances for the Rangers.
With Berard’s speed and aggressiveness, he can bring much to their young core that is developing quite nicely with many amazing players. Adding Brett Berard to the roster could help the Rangers top 9.
For now, Brett Berard has proven what type of player he is in the World Juniors and will be a prospect to keep an eye on in the near future for the Rangers.
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