11 Under 25: Assessing the New York Rangers Younger Players

The New York Rangers 2024-25 season has come to a close, and thank God for that. Now that we’re finally free from the torture of this year’s team, the future looms much like the apocalypse. There are coaches to be hired, contracts to be signed, and trades to be made. Echoing last year in a mirror image, nothing with the Blueshirts is certain. There’s always next season, they say, but what exactly is waiting for us? Does next year spark the comeback like 1992-1994, during which time the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final, missed the playoffs the next season, and followed up with a Stanley Cup Championship? Or is this powder keg truly about to explode and the group dives headfirst into a rebuild or a retooling? Maybe even worse, New York could just stay in this mediocre limbo, delusionally trying to win when the writing’s on the wall.

Even if things get better for the Rangers next season, this roster is aging fast. Twelve of twenty-three players are thirty or older. The current core—or whatever remains of it after the summer—might be able to improve play with a new head coach and the demons of last year behind them, but it won’t last. Time is running out, regardless of this team’s potential competitiveness.

Chris Drury chose to prioritize the kids when he made moves around the trade deadline. Shipping out Ryan Lindgren gave Zac Jones a chance to shine, albeit briefly, after his complaints. There’s no doubt that Brett Berard will remain a full-time NHLer after his late call-up this season, especially after his two-goal game against the New York Islanders to sweeten the end of a bitter season. Extra Effort Award-Winner Will Cuylle was the talk of the town until first-round pick Gabe Perreault skated through. The future is on the horizon right now, and next season will be an opportunity to shape this team into something new.

Peter Laviolette didn’t seem to think so in the second half of the season. He repeatedly scratched the younger players and placed them in limited roles on lower lines and pairings. It’s difficult to assess the future of the Blueshirts when we haven’t seen much of the next generation on the ice. But since Laviolette is gone, there’s some hope that the rookies will get a better look next season with a new bench boss.

Eleven players on the roster will be twenty-five or younger at the start of 2025-2026. Let’s take some time to look at where they’re at so we can see where the New York Rangers are heading.

Brett Berard – LW – 23 years old

Brett Berard’s season perhaps most vividly reflects the confusion of Laviolette’s coaching choices. After leading the Hartford Wolf Pack in goals during the 2023-24 season, the winger made an impressive showing at Rangers training camp that nearly landed him an opening-night roster spot. Losing out to Adam Edstrom meant that Berard would not see NHL ice again until a call-up in mid November, and it wasn’t a particularly good time to join the Blueshirts. Like a child caught in the middle of his parents’ messy divorce, Berard made his NHL debut the day The Memo dropped. His first career point was not exactly top of mind for fans at home that night.

Berard remained up with the team through their descent in the standings, putting up three goals and four assists in a 19 game stretch. What was remarkable about this showing was the 23-year-old’s calm amid the chaos of the organization. There was no sense that he was overwhelmed by constant friction between management, coaching staff, and players, which would have been understandable for someone in this position. It’s hard to imagine back-to-back trades of a captain and a second-overall pick in your first handful of games. 

Instead, Berard played with blinders on, embracing a hard-working and determined attitude on the ice. He’s a hustler—not afraid to chase pucks down, get in the corners, and go the extra mile on rebounds despite pile ups at the net. He meshed quite well with players like Edstrom, Will Cuylle, Matt Rempe, and Sam Carrick as a result. His season almost seemed to exist in a parallel universe to the theatrics of the Blueshirts, some sort of happy-go-lucky rookie story that probably belonged on a less hellish team.

Then, just when Berard was creating a much needed spark for the Rangers, Laviolette pulled the rug out from beneath him. He was sent back down to the AHL on Jan. 11, supposedly to bring up more center depth in the wake of Filip Chytil’s injury. No one could really understand why you would deprive a team of the only good thing going for them, but Berard took it in stride as a learning opportunity. He particularly focused on his wall play and defensive game after getting a taste of the NHL’s intensity.

“You try to be as prepared as possible going up there, but you don't really know what you need to work on until you experience it,” he told reporters in January. “I’m more focused on the games, watching more and more video, so if I do get another crack at it, I can be better in those areas.”

Preparation is a key word for Berard. Hartford head coach Grant Potulny said that “with Brett, you're never concerned about effort or preparation or energy.” A lot of his career has been defined by fighting for consideration—from nearly missing out on the 2021 World Junior Championship to clawing his way from fifth-round draft pick to team-leading goal scorer in the AHL. As a result, there is a certain discipline to Berard’s mentality that you don’t often see in rookies. He has no baggage. He trains right, shows up, and does his job regardless of whether he’s in the major league or the minors.

Berard’s work ethic fed into his steadiness this season. He was recalled on March 1 after Chris Kreider went on injured reserve, and it seemed as if this would be his last journey from Connecticut. In 16 games, he put up three goals, and though the scoresheet didn’t always reflect it, he was generating offense for the Blueshirts much more effectively than half of the veteran core. Some of it was that overeager and sloppy play of a rookie, but anything helped that team right then.

Laviolette opted to keep Berard in the revolving door of rookies, scratching him several games as the season came to a close. With departures likely over the summer, both from the roster and the coaching staff, it’ll be exciting to see his energy put to more consistent use next season. He could very well become a formidable presence in the top six.