Rangers fans set their expectations for Brennan Othmann, top prospects in 2025-26: poll
Forever Blueshirts ran a four-day poll series last week on X that spotlighted young players who cracked the New York Rangers lineup last season and could play bigger roles in 2025-26. Fans voted on point projections for Brennan Othmann, Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard, and Juuso Parssinen.
Othmann kicked off the series, and fans overwhelmingly chose the highest option of 20-plus points, raking in 57.4 percent of the vote. Because that choice ran away with it, the top option for the poll was bumped to 30-plus points for the rest of the polls. We can’t say for certain how Othmann’s results would’ve looked with the higher choice, but it’s fair to think a decent percentage of votes might have landed there.
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Young Rangers forwards have something to prove
All four cracked the Rangers’ lineup last season, but none came without bumps in the road. Othmann is still chasing his first NHL goal, Perreault burned his first contract year without tallying a point, Berard played through a significant shoulder injury and Parssinen was scratched more often than he played after arriving in a trade.
Each heads into the fall with something to prove, trying to earn a roster spot in traiuning camp, which begins next month.
Brennan Othmann
The No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Othmann is entering his third professional season and will contend for a spot on the opening-night roster. At age 22, Othman graduated from development camp, and his focus now shifted fully to training camp this fall.
Despite missing two months of hockey due to an upper-body injury sustained in October with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Othmann still suited up in 22 games for the Rangers last season. He had two assists, a plus-7 rating and averaged just under 10 minutes of ice time.
What he didn’t have was a goal — though he came close to scoring several times. Nor did he receive much of a chance to showcase his offensive talents, largely stuck in the bottom six and on the fourth line.
In the AHL, he had 20 points in 27 games with Hartford before his recall. As a rookie pro in 2023-24, Othmann tied for fourth among AHL rookies with 49 points, including 21 goals. He also scored 50 goals in 66 games with Flint in the OHL in 2021-22. So, we know he’s got the ability to fill the score sheet.
When it came to the fan poll, Othmann’s projections were as one-sided as it gets — 57.4 percent of voters went with the highest option of 20-plus points. The next closest category, 15-19 points, came in at just 23.2 percent, following by 11.6 percent choosing 10-14 points and 7.7 percent expecting fewer than 10.
That means most of the fans believe Othmann will earn a regular spot in the Rangers lineup, and produce a bit in the NHL.
Related: Brennan Othmann ready for next Rangers chapter after ‘weird’ rookie season
Brett Berard
Berard has consistently exceeded expectations since the Rangers drafted him in the fifth round (No. 134 overall) in 2020. He led all Rangers rookies last season with six goals and 10 points in 35 games — despite playing through a significant shoulder injury. This after he led Hartford with 25 goals in 2023-24, his first pro season.
Berad infused the lineup with speed and energy, two things the Rangers sorely lacked. His defensive game needs work, but it feels like he’ll have a leg up for a bottom-six role in training camp.
In the poll, Berard pulled in the best results under the updated format, with 44.5 percent of voters projecting him to finish with 20-29 points. Another 29.2 percent had him in the 10-19 point range, and 21.9 percent saw him hitting the 30-point mark. Just 4.4 percent expected fewer than 10 points.
Related: How healthy Brett Berard could crack Rangers opening-night lineup
Gabe Perreault
Perreault, the Rangers’ 2023 first-round pick (No. 23 overall), had a productive past two seasons to set himself up for a run at an NHL job this fall. The talented forward had 108 points with Boston College and helped the United States win consecutive gold medals at the 2024 and 2025 World Junior Championships, totaling 20 points in 14 games.
After leaving BC following the Eagles’ elimination from the NCAA Tournament last spring, Perrealt signed his entry-level contract and burned the first year to make his NHL debut. Perreault played five games with the Rangers, largely in a top-six role, without registering a point.
The 20-year-old made it clear he’ll be pushing for a roster spot this fall, saying, “I’m gonna do everything this summer — train hard, work hard, work on the little things I need to and come here to make the team.”
Perreault finished just behind Berard in the fan poll; 42.5 percent of voters had him in the 20-29 point range, while 26.9 percent went for the top option of 30-plus points. Another 22.3 percent had him in the 10-19 range, leaving only 8.3 percent expecting him to finish with fewer than 10 points.
Juuso Parrsinen
The Rangers acquired Parssinen in the trade that sent Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche on March 1. Parssinen can play center and wing, and racked up 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists) in 137 NHL games. He has 16 points in a career-high 48 games for three teams (also Nashville Predators) last season.
Parssinen had five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 games with the Rangers, including a three-point night against the New York Islanders and a two-point effort versus the Florida Panthers. He was scratched for 12 games after arriving in New York but will be in the mix for a bottom-six role this fall.
Fan expectations for Parssinen were definitely more reserved compared to the other prospects. For example, 42.6 percent of voters placed him in the 10-19 point range, and 29.4 percent projected 20-29 points. Another 20,3 percent saw him finishing with fewer than 10 points, and just 7.6 percent believed he will break 30 points.
It’s difficult to imagine each of these four young forwards landing a spot on the opening-night roster, barring injury elsewhere on the Rangers roster. It’s possible that just one or two emerge out of training camp with an NHL job, with the other two heading to Hartford for seasoning.
But as the fan poll suggests, expectations are that each of these players will play fairly significant roles for the Rangers at one time or another over the course of the 2025-26 season.
