The Rangers have traded Brett Berard to Montreal for defenseman William Trudeau.
Trudeau, 23, was a fourth round pick of Montreal in 2021 and has spent the last four years in the AHL. He has yet to make his NHL debut and is a left shot.
He is a pending RFA
McKeen’s Hockey ranked him 15th on Montreal’s prospect list and called him a “workhorse” and “solid AHL defender.”
Adam Rotter: I expected Berard to be a big part of the team last season but he was cut at the end of training camp and never seemed to find his way or continue the development he had the year before. Two years ago Berard looked like he could be a solid, quick bottom-six forward who could pop in some offense but by the middle of last year he was passed on the depth chart by Jaro Chemlar and by the end of the season Adam Sykora as well. Tye Kartye also fills a lot of what Berard was expected to do and he was excellent when he came over on waivers last season.
With Trudeau, maybe he’s a late bloomer in the Matthew Robertson vain. At the very least he’s only 23-years old and a left shot and should provide organizational depth.
What could be the most interesting aspect of this is that it appears to be the first trade that the Rangers and Montreal have made since Chris Drury took over as GM and Jeff Gorton went to Montreal. Maybe it means nothing or maybe there has been a thaw in the relationship between the two organizations.