The New York Rangers have made their intentions for the remainder of the 2025-26 NHL season crystal clear, and Brett Berard is one player who is in line to get another opportunity to prove himself. The release of the Letter 2.0 means that players are set to be moved out in the coming weeks, and Berard's recent play in Hartford will likely earn him another shot on the varsity squad.
Berard has been productive in return to Hartford
Over the last five games played, Berard has four goals and three assists for seven points with the Wolf Pack. He's now up to six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 26 games, and this level of production is a little more respectable than what he was averaging earlier on in the season. The team's brain trust still likely wants to see Berard producing a bit more, but the hope is that this recent hot streak is something that he can keep going.
The OT GWG courtesy of Brett Berard, Trey Fix-Wolansky, and Derrick Pouliot 🫡 pic.twitter.com/FjUpfrVrSy
— Hartford Wolf Pack (@HWPHockey) January 15, 2026
The team could open up quite a few spots on the active roster, and there's a chance Berard will have an opportunity to skate on the third line at the NHL level.. He hasn't been able to be as effective at the NHL level as he was previously, but that's been the case for quite a few young players this season.
Brennan Othmann finally got his first career NHL goal, and it will be interesting to see if breaching that barrier allows him to play a little more freely. Othmann spoke with the media about how much not scoring his first goal weighed on him, and it is fair to say that Berard could feeling a little similar about his situation to start the season.
Like Othmann, Berard's main issue this season has been a lack of shooting the puck. In 12 games Berard has 34 total shot attempts, 10 of which have ended up on goal. He spent 35 games on the main roster last season, and in that span he had 108 attempts and 59 shots on goal. He also ended the year with six goals and four assists for 10 points. Everyone should be quite familiar with Wayne Gretzky's quote about missing 100 percent of the shots you don't take, and if Berard is lucky enough to get back to the NHL, he should take that into consideration.