Rangers trade – New York flips restricted free agent winger Brett Berard to Montreal for restricted free agent defenseman William Trudeau. The rare swap is also the first trade between the Canadiens’ president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and the Rangers’ current GM Chris
The Rangers didn’t wait for the next season to take shape—they made a move first.
On Friday. New York and Montreal agreed to trade restricted free agent winger Brett Berard to the Canadiens for restricted free agent defenseman William Trudeau. It’s a rare swap. and it lands with extra weight inside the Rangers organization: Berard was originally drafted by former Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton. now Montreal’s president of hockey operations. The deal is the first trade of any kind between Gorton and the Rangers’ successor—current team president and GM Chris Drury—since Gorton was fired in May 2021.
For Berard. the numbers show flashes of scoring. but also the stop-start nature of trying to carve out a permanent NHL role. He has six goals and 10 points in 48 career NHL games. In 2024-25, he made a strong early impression with six goals and 10 points in 35 games. Then 2025-26 swung the other way: he was held without a point in 13 NHL games.
In the AHL, the production has been steadier. Berard totaled 23 points in 30 AHL games in 2024-25, followed by 22 points in 41 games in the minors this past season.
Montreal is also getting him at a moment when waiver status becomes central. Berard is no longer exempt from waivers, and he was projected to have trouble cracking the Rangers’ opening-night roster. New York’s forward picture includes a crowded mix of young bottom-six contenders—Adam Sýkora. Jaroslav Chmelař. Matt Rempe and Adam Edström—along with veterans Tye Kartye and Taylor Raddysh.
That’s part of why the Rangers were willing to move him. Berard, a 2020 fifth-round pick, stands 5-foot-9, but plays with feistiness and a high motor. He has shown scoring ability in the NHL. including during his rookie season. and he posted 25 goals in 71 games in his lone full AHL season in 2023-24. If he can’t stay in the league as a full-time NHL player. the path that fits his profile is a bottom-six energy role.
Trudeau, meanwhile, arrives to address a specific Rangers need on the blue line. He is a restricted free agent defenseman and a 2021 fourth-round pick. Montreal drafted him, and he hasn’t made his NHL debut yet. Last season, he had 20 points in 62 games with AHL Laval, where he’s spent the previous four seasons.
New York’s depth chart is exactly where he could fit. The Rangers have an organizational need at defense, and Trudeau could help fill it. If he’s sent to AHL Hartford, he would need to clear waivers.
Trudeau is built as an all-around defender. but with a tradeoff: nothing about his game is described as a singular standout. He can play a hard defensive game, though he isn’t overly physical. Offensively, he can contribute, but he isn’t described as a particularly gifted puck-mover. At 24 years old in October. those are the traits that have kept him from the jump in four pro seasons—at least so far.
Still, there’s a reason this move may matter more in the context of where he’s coming from. If there is NHL upside in his game. it may have been harder to surface in Montreal with a backlog of promising defensemen. On Laval. he’s been behind Adam Engström and David Reinbacher. and on the Canadiens’ blue line there’s already a logjam with Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble consistently fighting for the No. 6 job.
Perhaps in a Rangers system with fewer young defensemen packed into the same lane, Trudeau finds a clearer path to making the jump.
The sequence is simple on paper—Berard for Trudeau, restricted for restricted. But in each direction. it’s also about timing and opportunity: Berard’s scoring flashes and skating aggression face a crowded Rangers forward group. while Trudeau’s steady. all-around defensive profile meets a Rangers organization that needs blue-line help. One player is trying to secure an NHL foothold; the other is trying to finally make the kind of move that starts a full-time NHL career.
For now, both sides have what they want from the trade. The Rangers gain a defenseman in Trudeau, and Montreal takes on Berard’s wing scoring possibilities—starting with what happens next, including whether waivers and roster decisions shape their immediate futures.
Rangers Canadiens Brett Berard William Trudeau trade restricted free agent Chris Drury Jeff Gorton