After late-camp cut, Brett Berard ready for opportunity with Rangers

Brett Berard was honest.

It stunk for the young winger to learn he was among the Rangers' late cuts after coming into training camp as one of the top contenders for a bottom-six role.

Berard's confidence dipped, leading to him going pointless over Hartford's first five games of the season.

He also failed to find the back of the net in each of their 14 games.

Berard's been able to overcome those struggles, though, leading to him being called up to the shorthanded Rangers.

“Getting sent down that late stinks,” he said. “I kind of lost a little confidence -- the first few games it was hard to get my game back, but I think it was also a good challenge for my mental toughness to go through a little funk like that.

“I think it was a good thing, especially the last few weeks I’ve felt really confident about my game and in myself -- so I’m definitely happy with where my game is at and I’m happy to finally be back up here with the guys.”

Berard produced nine points over his last 17 games in Hartford, including two goals in the past three.

The 23-year-old is now expected to slide in alongside Noah Laba and Conor Sheary on New York’s third line.

It remains to be seen exactly how long he’ll stick around, but head coach Mike Sullivan is looking for him to provide the same spark he did during his rookie campaign.

“The role he’ll play is an energy guy,” Sullivan said. “He can be disruptive, get in on the forecheck, help our team speed. Along with that becomes the importance of playing a team game and attention to detail away from the puck.

“Those type of guys when you put them on the ice you want to trust that they are reliable and dependable, and they know what their job is, and a lot of that boils down to details -- that’s the message to those players and Berard is one of those guys.”