Rangers' Jonny Brodzinski proving his value yet again

 Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski reached a milestone when he played in his 200th NHL game last Friday night in Anaheim. The next night in San Jose, Brodzinski scored his 10th goal of the season, marking the first time in his 10 pro seasons that he’s reached double-digit goals at the NHL level.

All in all, it was a pretty big week for the 31-year-old from Ham Lake, Minnesota, who enters Wednesday’s game at Madison Square Garden against the Minnesota Wild with 10 goals, seven assists and a plus-9 rating in 43 games this season.

“I think the games played is pretty cool, but I think the 10 [goals] is more important to me because, I mean, for me personally, I’ve always known that I could score at this level,’’ Brodzinski told Newsday on Tuesday.

With 19-year-old Gabe Perreault signed by the Rangers on Monday after his Boston College team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament and making his NHL debut Wednesday, it looked as if Brodzinski would be pushed down to the fourth line against the Wild. But when the teams took warmups, the versatile 6-foot, 211-pounder remained on a reconfigured third line with Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle. Instead, it was veteran Chris Kreider who was dropped to the fourth line.

“He's been a really valuable piece,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said recently of Brodzinski. “He’s played all the positions, he's moved up and down the lineup, and certainly has a capability, offensively, to deliver.’’

His speed, big shot and always positive attitude are what make Brodzinski an important depth player for the Rangers. Since signing with the organization as a free agent before the COVID-19-shortened 2021 season, he’s played on every line, first through fourth; has played left wing, right wing and center; been the extra forward, healthy scratched on many nights, and has spent time in the AHL with the Rangers’ Hartford farm team.

In Hartford, he was a goal-scorer and point-per-game player, served as captain, and was a mentor to the organization’s young prospects, some of whom are on the Rangers right now. His presence in the locker room has done much to help some of those youngsters feel at home when they first get called up. On a road trip to Minnesota last month, Brodzinski had several of them over to his house for dinner with his family.

“He's got a beautiful home, and his wife and his two girls were awesome there, too,’’ said Brennan Othmann, who attended along with Cuylle, Matt Rempe, Zac Jones and Brett Berard. “Some of his family was there as well, and friends. And it was great to have that time over there.’’

Originally a fifth-round pick by the Kings in the 2013 draft out of St. Cloud State in Minnesota, Brodzinski never was able to establish himself as a full-time player for Los Angeles. He scored plenty for their AHL affiliate in Ontario, California, but untimely injuries worked against him, and he was profiling as a "tweener" in his four seasons with the Kings before signing as a free agent with San Jose in the summer of 2019.

He spent most of his one season there with the Sharks’ AHL team, where he switched from wing to center, before signing his first one-year contract with the Rangers  before the 2020-21 season. Since then, he’s re-signed with the Rangers three more times and has found a home in New York.

Despite all his time spent in the minor leagues, Brodzinski said he was never frustrated to the point of giving up the quest of being a full-time NHLer.

“I think pretty much everybody will attest to this, there’s not a lot of bad days in my life,’’ he said. “I’m a very happy guy. My wife will tell you that too. It’s very rare to see me upset. But in the American League, I was just trying to be a good leader for the younger guys. And I was really enjoying that, and enjoying being, kind of, ‘The Guy’ again in the American League. And that just brought me back to this level."

An injury last season to Filip Chytil paved the way for Brodzinski to finally become a full-time NHL player. The last cut from training camp, Brodzinski was leading the AHL in scoring when Chytil was injured. Brodzinski was called up, Chytil missed the rest of the regular season, Brodzinski played a career-high 57 games, and the Rangers offered him a two-year contract extension, which he was happy to sign.

“They approached me and just said that they wanted to re-sign me for two more years," he said. "I was through the roof."

Blue notes

Igor Shesterkin is back in goal against the Wild . . . TNT announced Wednesday that Sam Rosen will reunite on air with his long-time color commentator John Davidson to broadcast the Rangers’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 9. Rosen announced before the season he is retiring after 40 seasons as the Rangers’ TV play-by-play man . . . Cuylle was presented the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award as the player who, as voted by the fans, “goes above and beyond the call of duty.’’ Cuylle entered the game with 18 goals and 21 assists, and a plus-8 rating . . . Rempe, who skated in a regular (full-contact) jersey at the optional morning skate, will miss his third game with an upper-body injury but is progressing, Laviolette said.

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.