When I was a kid, summer camp was fun. For prospective Rangers, the Blueshirts summer camp is work. Top prospects from last year have a shot at a couple of potential empty spots on the big club. This is especially so with Barclay Goodrow just a pleasant memory while Jack Roslovic and Alex Wennberg remain unpleasant nightmares. Last September, The Hockey News Yearbook pegged left wing Brennan Othmann the big team's Number One prospect. Stan Fischler US Hall Of Fame MSG The Peterborough (OHL) grad was rated "a complete player who delivers shots, passes at hits at top speed. And a good forechecker too." New York's 16th overall pick in 2021, Brennan is getting more than a good look because his time has come. Some scouts are more interested in Gabe Perreault, the son of ex-NHLer Yanic Perreault. A graduate of Team USA's Development Program, Perreault was runner-up to Othmann on THN's list. He was selected 23rd overall last year because he plays a solid 200-foot game and is in a better-than-fair spot to make the big club. A year ago, Goodrow, Blake Wheeler and Tyler Pitlick were listed two, three and four on the THN right wing list behind the leader Kaapo Kakko. Assuming that Kakko remains a Ranger, there's plenty of room for Perreault to squeeze into the third or fourth slot; hey; maybe even second. Brett Berard, a left wing, was seventh on the list last year, two behind solid 2023-24 NHL rookie Will Cuylle who'll be back for a sophomore year. Picked a distant 134th overall in 2020, Berard already got himself a story in The Post although that guarantees nothing when the training camp countdown begins. At 5-9, 174 pounds, he already becomes a longshot on a club already regarded as too soft. Nevertheless his good season at Hartford might turn a few admiring heads. Berard's game gets a nod from THN as, "quick and crafty." That's the good news. The bad news is that few left wings picked as low as 134th overall in 2020 rarely make it to a club looking for big fellas. Then again, you never know!
