Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brett Berard

Metro Notes: Palát, Berard, Hollowell

at CDT | by 3 Comments

In a recent article from Todd Cordell of Infernal Access, he opines that the New Jersey Devils should look to move on from veteran winger Ondřej Palát this offseason. Whether through a buyout or trade, Cordell believes the salary cap savings could be better used to improve other areas.

Cordell’s argument is credible. Palát is making $6MM in 2025-26 and 2026-27 with a full no-movement clause and a modified 10-team no-trade clause. He hasn’t scored more than 31 points in a season since joining the Devils, and his ice time has dropped significantly over the last three years.

Assuming New Jersey is unable to find a trade partner, given the heavy trade protection, it’s likely the Devils buy out the remaining two years of Palát’s contract if they no longer want him on the team. Using PuckPedia’s buyout calculator, New Jersey would be on the hook for $3.533MM in 2025-26, $2.533MM in 2026-27, and $1.483MM in 2027-28 and 2028-29. Aside from Luke Hughes, the Devils don’t have many high-end players to retain this offseason. Should they need the extra cap savings to pursue a notable free agent, buying out Palát’s contract may be the best route.

More notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, New York Rangers forward Brett Berard has been removed from Team USA in the IIHF World Championships due to “physical limitations”. Neither Walker nor team representatives shared specifics regarding Berard’s injury, but he’s expected to be ready for the Rangers’ training camp in September.
  • In his recurring segment analyzing players within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review recently looked at defenseman Mac Hollowell of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Hollowell led all WBS defensemen in scoring this year with one goal and 31 points, but injuries limited him to only 56 games. Despite his offensive maturity in the AHL, there’s Rorabaugh doesn’t believe the Penguins will retain him, given they never recalled him this season.

Snapshots: Ekholm, Domi, Rodrigues, Berard

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm has resumed skating as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury, relays YEG Sports Talk’s Tom Gazzola (Twitter link).  However, it’s still believed that he’s still weeks away from returning.  Already ruled out for this round, it appears that the 34-year-old might be in tough to suit up in the Western Conference Final if Edmonton were to make it there.  Ekholm is a critical cog on their back end, playing a key shutdown role while also being a solid secondary contributor after notching 33 points in 65 games this season.  However, it looks like he’s still not particularly close to returning.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Department of Player Safety announced that Maple Leafs winger Max Domi has been fined $5K, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for a boarding incident against Florida on Sunday. The incident occurred in the dying seconds of regulation on a hit on Aleksander Barkov.  Domi received a major penalty on the play but won’t receive any further discipline beyond the fine.
  • It appears a decision on Evan Rodrigues’ availability will come closer to game time on Tuesday. Team reporter Rob Darragh mentions that Panthers head coach Paul Maurice indicated that the winger hasn’t been cleared to play in the fifth game against Toronto but hasn’t been ruled out yet either.  Rodrigues left Sunday’s game early in the third period following a hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and did not return.  He has three assists in nine games so far this postseason.
  • Rangers forward Brett Berard has withdrawn from Team USA’s roster at the Worlds, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post. The injury is believed to be a minor one and he’s expected to have a full offseason of preparation and be ready for the start of training camp in the fall.  The 22-year-old made his NHL debut in late November and got into 35 games with the big club, notching six goals and four assists.  Berard also added 23 points in 30 games with AHL Hartford.

Rangers To Place Chris Kreider On IR, Recall Brett Berard

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have recalled rookie winger Brett Berard from the minor leagues. They’re also expected to place winger Chris Kreider on injured reserve in a corresponding move per Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Kreider has missed New York’s last three games with an upper-body injury. He was a late scratch for each absence and doesn’t yet have a clear timeline to return. The Rangers can make Kreider’s IR placement retroactive to his last game on February 22nd. That will make him eligible to be activated as soon as he’s back to full health.

Berard spent six weeks on the NHL roster between November and January. He stepped into the first 19 games of his NHL career on that stint and recorded seven points, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-nine. The Rangers returned Berard to the minors in mid-January, and he’s shown the top-flight stint kicked his game into a new gear. He has 10 points, 25 penalty minutes, and a minus-five in 14 AHL games since returning to the minors.

Berard will join fellow rookie Brennan Othmann on the NHL roster. Othmann filled in Kreider’s vacancy over the last two games, with no scoring and just 18 minutes of combined ice time. Berard will give the Rangers a hotter hand to try and make up for Kreider’s lineup hole. They could also turn towards new addition Juuso Parssinen to fill a left-wing role, after acquiring him as part of a swap that sent Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche. Parssinen has 11 points in 37 games this season – split between time in Nashville and Colorado. The Rangers have two wing vacancies to fill.

Kreider has turned his season around in February, recording four points in six NHL games and one goal in two games at the 4-Nations Face-Off. He’s up to 17 goals and 21 points in 48 games this season. That’s enough to tie for second on the Rangers in goals scored, leaving a glaring hole in New York’s hot-and-cold offense. Their pair of rookies, and new acquisition, will have a golden opportunity to step up in Kreider’s absence. A hot performance could go a long way towards earning routine minutes with the Rangers now down Vesey.

Rangers Recall Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Reassign Brett Berard

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers are making a small swap at the bottom of their forward core. The organization announced they’ve recalled Benoit-Olivier Groulx from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and reassigned Brett Berard in a corresponding roster move.

According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, the roster move should be short-lived. Walker shares that center Filip Chytil is a game-time decision for tomorrow night’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights leaving the Rangers without any extra options down the middle.

Should Chytil’s injury prohibit him from playing tomorrow night, Groulx will likely make his debut with the Rangers. He had spent the first four years of his professional career with the Anaheim Ducks organization before signing a one-year, $775K contract with New York as an unrestricted free agent this past summer.

He’s quickly become the top AHL call-up option at center for the Rangers. Groulx has scored 11 goals and 29 points in 32 games for the Wolf Pack this season good for second on the team in scoring behind Alex Belzile.

Berard may suit up for Hartford given they have a few upcoming home games this weekend. He won’t be down in the AHL long given how he’s played for the Rangers this season. He’s scored three goals and seven points in 19 games averaging 11:20 of ice time in the team’s bottom six.

Despite playing nearly half as many games as the rest of his teammates in New York, Berard has already climbed to 13th on the team in hits with 27. He still has a few things to clean up defensively but Berard’s physicality and ability to stay out of the penalty box has made him a solid addition to the Rangers this season.

Metro Notes: Graves, Berard, Bowey

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote a brutally honest assessment of the conundrum the Pittsburgh Penguins are facing with highly paid healthy scratch Ryan Graves. Graves is a healthy scratch once again tonight and has sat out of the lineup for the Penguins’ last three games, which were all victories for Pittsburgh. In fact, the Penguins are 10-4-4 with Graves out of the lineup the last two seasons and 38-40-12 when he does play.

Now, it’s unfair to put all the blame on Graves for the Penguins’ struggles when he plays, but his play on the ice has certainly not come close to living up to his hefty $4.5MM cap hit. Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas has made some shrewd moves to acquire young players since arriving in Pittsburgh, but the Graves contract and the four years remaining on it are one of the worst misfires of any general manager in recent memory.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Colin Stephenson of Newsday reports that New York Rangers forward Brett Berard was back at practice today in a green no-contact jersey. The 22-year-old is currently listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, an injury he most likely suffered on Saturday afternoon when he took a hit from Canadiens forward Kirby Dach. In four games this season with the Rangers, Berard has been solid, posting a goal and an assist while averaging 12:33 of ice time. The Rangers have a bit of a break this week and don’t play again until Friday against Pittsburgh, so Berard may still suit up depending on how he feels before then.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets AHL affiliate the Cleveland Monsters have signed defenseman Madison Bowey to an AHL contract for the rest of the 2024-25 season. Bowey has already suited up in 17 games this season for Cleveland, posting three assists while playing under a professional tryout. The 29-year-old is a veteran of 158 NHL games over four seasons with four different NHL teams. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native tallied five goals and 35 assists during his time in the NHL and was a regular for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2019-20 season before the league shutting down during the pandemic. Bowey would only play in four NHL games after that season, spending the bulk of his time in the AHL and KHL.

Rangers Recall Brett Berard, Ruhwedel And Mancini Assigned To AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have recalled forward Brett Berard from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and have assigned defensemen Victor Mancini and Chad Ruhwedel to the AHL.

A former fifth-round pick in 2020, Berard will have an opportunity to make his NHL debut in just his second full season with the Wolf Pack after spending three seasons with Providence College of the NCAA. The 22-year-old had 25 goals and 23 assists in 71 AHL games last season and has produced better offensive numbers this season with seven goals and six assists in 16 AHL games thus far.

Going back to the AHL is Mancini, who himself is a former fifth-round pick (2022) and is in his second season of professional hockey, although he played just seven AHL games last season. The Hancock, Michigan native has dressed in ten NHL games for the Rangers this season and has produced decent offensive numbers with a goal and three assists while averaging 15:25 of ice time per game. Despite the offensive numbers, Mancini has been overwhelmed on the possession front, posting an abysmal 36.3 CF% at even strength.

Also headed to Hartford is veteran Ruhwedel. The former Stanley Cup champion has rarely seen AHL action since becoming an NHL regular in 2017-18. Ruhwedel played out a series of short-term one-way NHL contracts but had to settle for a two-way deal this past summer. This year the 34-year-old has played sparingly, with just one scoreless NHL appearance and seven AHL games.

The demotion of two defensemen to the AHL likely means that Zachary Jones will return to the Rangers lineup sooner rather than later.

Rangers Recall 13 Players

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the Rangers seeing their AHL team eliminated in the Atlantic Division Finals earlier this week, they were free to recall some players to the big club to serve as their ‘Black Aces’ squad.  After taking a few days, they’ve made their choices on who to bring up.  AHL Hartford announced that the Rangers have promoted goaltender Dylan Garand, defensemen Ben Harpur, Connor Mackey, Victor Mancini, Matthew Robertson, and Brandon Scanlin, and forwards Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick, and Adam Sykora from the Wolf Pack.

Garand was briefly up with the Rangers earlier in the playoffs when third-stringer Louis Domingue was unavailable but didn’t see any game action.  The 21-year-old didn’t have a particularly strong regular season with a 3.03 GAA and a .898 SV% in 39 regular season games but was quite sharp in the playoffs, improving those numbers to 2.59 and .922 respectively in nine appearances.

Among the blueliners, only Mackey and Scanlin saw action with the Rangers during the regular season, getting into one game apiece; one of them would likely be the first from this group to get the call to play if necessary.  Harpur has the most experience with 198 career appearances (including 42 with New York in 2022-23) but missed most of the season due to injury which likely takes him off the table.  Mancini, meanwhile, is eligible to practice but not play as his entry-level contract doesn’t officially begin until next season.

As for the forwards, all but Belzile, Berard, and Sykora got into at least one NHL contest in 2023-24.  Pitlick led the way on that front with 34 appearances but was limited to just a goal and three assists while averaging a little over 10 minutes a night.  That said, he’d be the safest player to put in the lineup if necessary given his familiarity.  Othmann is one of their top prospects and had a strong year in Hartford with 49 points in 67 games.  While it would be riskier to put him in, his style of play fits in with the physicality of the postseason while Othmann could provide some potential offensive upside if Peter Laviolette has to shake things up.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top