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Why Rangers should play Matt Rempe against Oilers as trade rumors surface
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- Why Rangers should play Matt Rempe against Oilers as trade rumors surface
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Matt Rempe's played two of 14 games for the New York Rangers so far this season, 18 shifts totaling just over 13 minutes of ice time. That's for a player coach Mike Sullivan says needs to play after missing most of the previous season due to injury.
Yet, the towering Rangers forward sits in the press box night after night. At first, he watched Jaroslav Chmelar skate in his desired spot on the fourth line. Now it's Taylor Raddysh . It almost never is Rempe, who last played Oct. 13 in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning , which was two weeks after he was in the opening-night lineup against the Boston Bruins.
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But perhaps that will change Sunday at Madison Square Garden, when the Rangers host the Edmonton Oilers. It could serve the Rangers well if Frank Seravalli's report for Sportsnet is true that Oilers coach Mike Babcock "is believed to admire" New York's 6-foot-9 enforcer.
Seravalli also reported that "Babcock has campaigned internally for more size and brawn in his forward group, which GM Stan Bowman is now examining on the trade market."
So, what better time for the Rangers to get Rempe back in there than Sunday, to give Babcock and Co. an up-close look at Rempe, whose 11 hits in two games averages out to a whopping — albeit unsustainable — 48.76 hits per 60 minutes .
Rangers at crossroads with Matt Rempe
Not dissimilar to their conundrum with young defenseman Scott Morrow , who's been a healthy scratch all 14 games, the Rangers fear losing Rempe for nothing if they put him on waivers in an attempt to send him to Hartford of the American Hockey League. But with Sullivan not so inclined to put the popular 24-year-old in the lineup, the Rangers are caught in no-man's land with Rempe, just as they are with Morrow.
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If you can get a draft pick or a prospect, or maybe even bottom-six forward, in return for Rempe, why not do it? And if the Oilers really are intrigued by him, then play Rempe on Sunday. Maybe it convinces Babcock and Bowman that having Rempe providing protection for Edmonton's elite talent is better than seeing him hunt down Connor McDavid , Leon Draisaitl , and Evan Bouchard .
Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
That Rempe is from Alberta — Calgary actually, not Edmonton, but still — is a plus for the young forward. But more importantly, it'd be a fresh opportunity. It seems like a long time ago that Rempe was stealing hearts at MSG, scoring the playoff-opening goal in 2024 and taking on all the League's top heavyweights.
Just last October, Sullivan heaped praise on his fourth line of Rempe, Sam Carrick , and Adam Edstrom for playing a hard, fast, north-south game, full of physicality and strong forechecking, while remaining defensively responsible. Heck, Rempe had an expected goal share of over 50 percent, per Natural Stat Trick . He wasn't the on-ice liability many feared.
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That lasted one month. Then he mangled his thumb in a fight with San Jose Sharks enforcer Ryan Reaves, subsequently had two surgeries, and now tries to re-establish himself after a completely lost season.
Maybe it's time to have him re-establish himself somewhere else. If he's no longer seen as a fit here by Sullivan, then let the Oilers get a good look at him Sunday to find out if they believe he's the right fit for their squad, and how he fits in a pretty deep lineup .
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