Why Brett Berard should be considered a strong candidate for NY Rangers’ third line
Why Brett Berard should be considered a strong candidate for NY Rangers’ third line
In a transparent moment prior to the third annual Shoulder Check Showcase at Terry Conners Rink on July 24, Rangers forward Brett Berard revealed that he played most of the 2024-25 season with a torn labrum.
He sustained the injury in his fourth career NHL game on Nov. 30 against Montreal, sat out the next three contests, then returned Dec. 9 and played his final 31 games (plus another 14 with AHL Hartford) while gutting his way through the paiIt forced him to back out of his commitment to play for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championships, where he missed out on a gold-medal run. But the long offseason has helped him make a full recovery without needing surgery.
“It was really kind of just a normal hit,” Berard said while describing the cause of the tear. “I just went in weird. I’ve never had any shoulder problems. Knock on wood, hopefully this will be the last one. But it didn’t feel great at allThe obvious question is why the 22-year-old came back so quickly, rather than allowing proper time for the injury to heal?But as Berard pointed out, that critic lacks context. For a long-shot prospect who was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 draft and had to claw his way up the organizational ladder, bowing out due to what he deemed manageable discomfort was not an option.It’s one of those things where you’re up in the NHL (and) you work your whole life for it,” he said. “I felt like I was playing pretty good hockey, too, so you don’t want to really lose that. So, I just tried to play through it.”
