Matt Rempe has value to the Rangers in his Agent Chaos fourth-line role even that far exceeds his ice time. He is an important and unique part of the dynamic. He deserves to be in the opening lineup in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9.
But I wonder whether Rempe would have more value to the Blueshirts down the stretch and in the playoffs if he were to start the season in Hartford, where the idea would be to provide the 22-year-old with a heaping tablespoon of minutes with which he could learn and adapt to a more dedicated checking role.
It is a question, not an answer.
The entire marathon lays ahead. The Rangers should be a very good team, but not good enough to take the 82-game season for granted. Championship building blocks are laid throughout the journey. There are no shortcuts to success.
At the same time, though, this season will not be considered a success if it does not end with a ride through the Canyon of Heroes. That’s the burden this team carries, but not because of 1994 and not because of 1940 but because of last spring and the spring before that and the one before that with this core that has pretty much been in place since 2020-21. Jobs will be on the line. This is a Last Ride.
So I get it. I get why the club traded for 33-year-old Reilly Smith to fill that top-six right wing hole instead of leaving it open so that perhaps Brennan Othmann or maybe Will Cuylle could grow into it.
I get why the club signed 32-year-old Sam Carrick to fill the fourth-line void in the middle left by Barclay Goodrow’s exit instead of taking a look at Rempe, who played a lot of center in junior hockey.
I get it, but if Rempe could accelerate his, um, growth by improving his skating and balance while learning the spot in the AHL for the first three months, do you think Sam Bennett would like to go shift-for-shift with him in a playoff series?
It is likely unrealistic this season and maybe even next. But the hierarchy’s objective should be to shift Rempe into the middle once the opportunity presents. And though the NHL is not a development league, as Chris Kreider famously said when the club entered the post-Letter world, I would urge head coach Peter Laviolette and the staff not to limit their imagination and not to be constrained by an urgency to win every game in October and November.
Because the reward could be so meaningful.
A year ago, Rempe reported to camp on the periphery before an impressive performance in which he made it to one of the final cuts on Oct. 1. This year, of course, he reported as an incumbent, even if he has played only 17 games in his NHL career.
“I don’t think the mentality has changed at all but this year I know the work I put in over the summer and I want to showcase that,” Rempe told The Post. “I feel much better about my game this year.
“I think I surprised myself a little bit last year with how camp went but this year I know what I can do and want to showcase that. I have to earn everything, that’s what I want and who I am. I’m never going to get comfortable, just earn, earn, earn everything.”
Rempe played his second preseason game Tuesday at the Garden, skating on the right side with Carrick in the middle and Adam Edstrom on the left as the Blueshirts went with a representative lineup in a 5-4 win against AHL Utica. That’s the fourth line that could open the season, though Jonny Brodzinski probably has more of a claim to the spot on left wing.
The Rangers’ room for growth lies within their young’uns. That applies to Rempe, but perhaps more to the point, it applies to Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Cuylle, K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider. Veterans have by and large established their respective ceilings. The kids haven’t come close.
The team would lose an important part of the equation by sending Rempe to the Wolf Pack to serve a study-intensive apprenticeship for a few months. I’d be surprised if it is being considered. But it is going to be important for Laviolette to give Rempe representative ice time in New York and not the usual allotment for a fourth-liner who does not kill penalties.
The winger played 17 games last year and in only six did he get more than 6:00 of ice time. Fact is, he was hit with more penalty minutes than he was on the ice in five contests. You can’t have that this year.
Laviolette has often talked this camp about finding balances. One of them is finding the balance between relying on reliable vets and giving more volatile youngsters the ice time they need to blossom so they are ready to even lead the charge when the playoffs commence.
One of those youngsters wears No. 73.
Just consider the possibilities.
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