The New York Rangers have had their prospects show peak performance over the last week in World Juniors. A combination of lethal speed, scoring aptitude, and succinct passing has allowed each competitor the Rangers have to stand out in their unique way over the last few weeks.
But there’s also a dubious distinction among players that have carried a different moniker towards them over the last few days.
With Brett Berard’s game misconduct in Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to Czechia, it’s now the fourth player to be ejected from a game in this tournament: by far the most of any team.
While Berard is a fifth-round pick from the 2020 draft, he wasn’t the only recent Ranger to be ejected from a contest. Czechia’s Jaroslav Chmelar was ejected for boarding on Brennan Othmann, another Ranger’s prospect.
Chmelar missed the previous contest due to a skating injury, however, was not suspended for his hit.
Adam Sykora, the Ranger’s second-round pick just a few months ago was ejected on the 14th for a kneeing penalty. Sykora was the only Ranger representative to not make it past the group stage.
Will Cuylle, arguably the second-best prospect for the Rangers, also received a game misconduct for kneeing against Finland just a day later.
The four-player ejections are by far the most of any team represented in the tournament this season. It also unfortunately takes away from the excellent offensive array of talent the Rangers have shown to provide over the week.
Each Rangers prospect outside of goalie, Dylan Garland has scored at least a goal in the tournament through this point.
Brennan Othmann Shines for Rangers
While most of the Ranger’s top prospects have been ejected at some point over the last week, New York’s top prospect has continued to shine throughout the tournament.
Brennan Othmann has totaled six points in the last three games for Team Canada with the club moving passed Switzerland to advance to the next round.
Othmann has been a scoring machine in the OHL for the Flint Firebirds and is definitely on the cusp of making the Ranger’s big-league roster after another strong performance.
While Brennan Othmann and other top Rangers prospects have all scored at least once, the number of ejections isn’t the type of impact fans and the team is looking to have.
Regardless, with the tournament set to end shortly, and training camp under a month away, we are just a little closer to having New York Rangers hockey back.
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