Brett Berard among the Rangers' rookies making an impact

BUFFALO – After two trips to the Eastern Conference finals in the last three seasons, and with a core of players that’s been mostly together for a few years, the Rangers always were supposed to be a veteran team this season. But slowly, things are changing. And the team’s struggles the past weeks are speeding up that change.

With the trade last Friday of captain Jacob Trouba, the team’s defense now does not have a player over 26 (not counting recent callup Connor Mackey, who is 28 and serving as the seventh defenseman). And with Brett Berard emerging as a player who coach Peter Laviolette seems to want to keep playing, the Rangers now have three rookies in the lineup. That's in addition to second-year player Will Cuylle, who entered Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres tied with Adam Fox as the team’s second-leading scorer.

“There’s lots of youth between [Victor] Mancini, [Adam] Edstrom, Cuylle,’’ Laviolette said at Wednesday’s morning skate. “The defense, overall, is pretty young. They’re all [no older than] 26, so there’s a lot of youth inside the lineup, and that’s a good thing."

The callup of Berard, who led AHL Hartford in goals last season as a rookie pro with 25 and was leading the Wolf Pack in goals again this season when he was summoned on Nov. 24, is emblematic of the shift. He was called up partly because Chris Kreider was unable to play because of back spasms, but Laviolette said the callup was merit-based and that Berard had played well enough to earn it.

After getting an assist in his first game and a goal in his second game, and playing with speed and assertiveness, Berard seemed to catch Laviolette’s eye. When Kreider returned to the lineup after missing three games, the coach kept Berard in and scratched veteran Reilly Smith against Montreal Nov. 30. Smith got back in the lineup when Berard took a hit from Montreal’s Kirby Dach in that game and suffered an upper-body injury that kept him out four games.

“For me, he just brings good energy,’’ Laviolette said of Berard. “He tries to get the puck and make something happen with it. He’s got speed, he’s got tenacity. He’s done some good things.’’

Berard returned to the lineup Monday against Chicago – veteran Jimmy Vesey was scratched – and was back in the lineup again Wednesday, playing a second straight game on the fourth line with fellow rookie Edstrom and veteran center Sam Carrick.

Berard acknowledged that playing on the fourth line is different than playing higher up in the lineup, as he was doing before he got hurt, “but my game stays the same, I think."

“My energy, tenacity, the feistiness I try to play with, and my speed [makes me] versatile,’’ he said. “I think part of my game is I can play up and down the lineup, so as to be ready for whatever opportunity arises."

Berard pointed out that he and Edstrom played on the same line together in Hartford last year, and they developed a chemistry together. Laviolette said their line, with Carrick in the middle, was the only line that performed well in the crushing 2-1 loss to Chicago on Monday.

Edstrom, too, has clearly earned the coach’s trust. The 6-6 Swede has played in every game of the season, holding his place when Vesey returned to the lineup after missing the first 10 games with a lower-body injury, and now again that Laviolette has decided to force Berard into the lineup with everyone healthy.

“I think I kind of mentioned at the start of the season – I feel like every game I grow into it more and more, and you kind of find that confidence to maybe hold on to the puck in some situations that you maybe didn’t in the first 10 games," said Edstrom, who had two goals and an assist, and 21 penalty minutes (tied with Carrick for most on the team) entering Wednesday. “But I’m proud of myself and I’m very happy with the confidence that the coaches decided to play me in every game so far."

Blue notes

Artemi Panarin, whose 15 goals and 34 points led the team entering Wednesday, was set to play his 700th career game against the Sabres… Igor Shesterkin got a second straight start in goal… Vesey, Jonny Brodzinski and Mackey were the scratches.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.