The New York Rangers welcomed Matt Rempe to the NHL in the best way possible — by having his debut be at the 2024 Stadium Series at Metlife Stadium. Since joining the Blueshirts, the bruiser has quickly become a fan favorite with his forte being massive hits and consistent fights.
His play has been overwhelmingly entertaining, but with the playoffs just around the corner, there needs to be an important decision made — is Rempe good enough to remain on the roster during the postseason?
Bad penalties make keeping Rempe on the Rangers’ roster a bit of a risk
Although the amount of fights Rempe has gotten in during his young career has been entertaining, it’s important to note that the enforcer earns five minutes in the penalty box with each knockout. It’s not causing the Rangers to have to kill off a power play, but it makes them have to play with one less forward for a quarter of the period.
Rempe’s worst penalty by far has been his elbow on Jonas Siegenthaler, a play which ended with an ejection and later a four-game suspension for the 21-year-old. The Rangers were forced to kill off a five-minute major penalty because of Rempe and were lucky to walk away without any goals against.
If Rempe wants to remain on the Rangers’ playoff roster, he needs to learn quite a large lesson from this suspension. He’s been better at choosing his battles as his season has progressed by declining fights every so often, but he can not take as many bad penalties anymore. Imagine what could have happened if that elbow had been against the Florida Panthers or Boston Bruins in a playoff matchup.