Rangers can use end of season to see what Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault can do
Brett Berard of the New York Rangers at UBS Arena on April 10, 2025. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
SUNRISE, Fla. — Rangers coach Peter Laviolette took a fair amount of criticism last week when he chose to leave 19-year-old forward Gabe Perreault out of his lineup for what was then a still meaningful game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Perreault, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, had played three games after signing with the Rangers following the conclusion of his sophomore season with Boston College. With only eight games left in the regular season and the Rangers fighting to get into the playoffs, it was assumed Perreault, their first-round draft pick in 2023, would play in all of them.
But Laviolette decided to scratch Perreault for the game against the Flyers, and insert 22-year-old rookie Brett Berard into the lineup instead. Berard played the next night as well, against the Islanders, and scored two goals.
With the Rangers having been eliminated from playoff contention with Saturday’s loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina, Laviolette put Perreault, who sat out three straight games, back in the lineup Monday for what turned out to be a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers. Brennan Othmann, the 2021 first-rounder who had been scratched the last two games, also came back in. And with those two in, Berard was left out.
But it was another young guy, defenseman Matthew Robertson, for whom this game meant the most. Robertson, 24, a second-round pick in 2019, made his NHL debut against the Panthers.
“It's been my dream to wear the red, white and blue since getting drafted in 2019, and, I mean, there's a lot of emotions going on, just stepping on the ice, wearing the jersey,’’ Robertson said. “I was just very excited and proud of my family and everyone who helped me get here.’’
Before the game, Laviolette had insisted that playing Robertson wasn’t just a gift to a guy who had toiled for four years in the minor leagues.
“This is an opportunity for him to step in and show his game,’’ Laviolette said. “He's still a young player . . . it's not just a token, 'Here you go.'’’
After the game, Laviolette said he liked what he saw from Robertson, who was partnered with No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox. Robertson played 15 minutes, 24 seconds, had two shots on goal — one in the first minute of the game that tested Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky — and was a plus-1 on the night.
“He was really good,’’ said Laviolette. “He's a big guy [6-4, 211] that moves well, and . . . he played really well down in Hartford. So to get him up into some games was good.
“I mean it would have been nice if he scored on that first shift, and he made a heck of a shot. And Bobrovsky just got a piece of the pad on it, I think. But really, overall, really good.’’
To get Perreault and Othmann both back in the lineup, Laviolette gave fourth-line center Sam Carrick the night off. But he kept Chris Kreider, widely assumed to be on the trading block over the offseason, in the lineup, though he dropped him to the fourth line, with center Jonny Brodzinski and winger Matt Rempe. That line ended up being dynamic, with both Rempe and Brodzinski scoring.
Juuso Parssinen, who had replaced Othmann the two games he was out, remained in the lineup, centering the third line between Will Cuylle and Alexis Lafreniere, and he scored a goal and had an assist on Rempe’s goal. That gave Parssinen two goals and five points over his last three games.
Though the Rangers’ season will end Thursday at Madison Square Garden against the Tampa Bay Lightning, these games are important for Rangers management to learn as much as they can about some of the young guys. The Rangers need as much information as they can get on all the young guys, but Berard, Othmann and Perreault could potentially all be on the roster next year.
Othmann played on the top line Monday, with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin, while Perreault played on the second line, with J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad.
Notes & quotes: Trocheck’s shorthanded goal at 3:40 of the third period broke a 3-3 tie and turned out to be the winner. Brodzinski’s 12th goal, with 3:29 remaining, was insurance. Rempe, Parssinen and J.T. Miller had the other goals for the Rangers . . . Trocheck played in his 800th game . . . Jonathan Quick made 27 saves . . . Sam Reinhart scored two goals for Florida. Carter Verhaeghe had the other.
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.
