Rangers must get Matt Rempe’s ‘minutes up’: MSG Network analyst
It’s safe to say that former New York Rangers captain and current MSG Network hockey analyst Dave Maloney is bullish on Matt Rempe. So much so, that he believes the towering forward deserves a more prominent role on the Rangers this season.
Speaking on Sirius/XM’s NHL Network Radio on Monday, Maloney raved about all that Rempe brings to the Rangers lineup and how hard the 22-year-old worked during the summer to prepare for the coming season.
Even though Rempe is battling to earn a roster spot here in training camp, Maloney said that the 6-foot-8 forward should be in the lineup and be allowed to play more minutes than the 5:38 he averaged over 17 regular-season games in 2023-24.
“I think he has all the tools to be a really good player,” Maloney explained. “It wouldn’t behoove [the Rangers] to play him 4-5 minutes a night. I think somehow they’ve got to figure out a way to get this guy’s minutes up and really give him a chance to see whether he can play beyond all of these [things] that have made him a cult hero.”
Of course, Maloney was referring to Rempe’s willingness to drop the gloves with the League’s top heavyweights, something that started on his first NHL shift when he fought Matt Martin of the Islanders in front of 79,000 fans at MetLife Stadium last February. He had 79 penalty minutes in those 17 games.
Even though Rempe took on-ice fighting lessons from former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque this summer, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette has stressed to the 6-foot-8 forward that the Rangers need more of an all-around game from him this season. Maloney not only agrees with the coach, he believes Rempe can be a game-changing force by playing a simple, physical game.
“Last year he proved he could take a punch, he could throw a punch and he was willing,” Maloney said. “Now can he play? i think he has the tools to play. I think he gets on top of people. Like (Hall of Fame NHL coach) Freddie Shero said, ‘You arrive with some anger in your bucket in a straight line.’ He’s got that attitude.”
Maloney added how impressed he was that Rempe trained with Chris Kreider this summer and lived with Jonathan Quick and his family in Connecticut. And it appears to be paying off already in training camp, where Rempe’s skating seems much improved and his fitness level appears to be among the best on the team.
“By all accounts at the first three days of camp, he’s gained half a stride (skating), he’s gained, I think, 15 pounds,” the former Rangers defenseman noted. “I just think the big thing for him is what role are they going to put him in.”
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Matt Rempe wants to ‘be a hockey player’ for Rangers
Laviolette didn’t trust Rempe in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to play significant minutes or at all in close games late. But the coach is a fan of the youngster, who burst on the scene and took New York by storm with Rempe-Mania last season.
Rempe did not fight in 11 postseason games and did score New York’s first goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in the second period of Game 1 of their first-round series against the Washington Capitals. And he’s consistently said the right things about wanting to be an all-around player whom Laviolette can trust moving forward.
“I want to be a player. I want to be a hockey player,” Rempe said at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase earlier this month. “(Fighting) is a part of the game and it’s a nice tool to have, but I want to be a fast, physical player first.”
He’s also made noise more than once that he wants to kill penalties and also get a shot playing his natural position, center, along with his work on the wing.
Laviolette likely will slow roll all of that. Right now, the Rangers would settle for Rempe to be a big physical player, who gets in the forecheck, chip in offensively and remain responsible in his own end. One that could play consistently with veterans Sam Carrick and Jimmy Vesey on the fourth line.
Though Laviolette refuses to say so, Rempe appears to be the frontrunner to land that fourth-line role to begin the season. Though he must hold off another giant young forward, 6-foot-7 Adam Edstrom, here in camp. Edstrom is not as physical as Rempe but is a good skater who scored two goals in 11 games in 2023-24 and had three goals in two rookie games here in September.
“They got a guy Edstrom, too, that’s got the same size, but doesn’t have the same bite,” Maloney said. “These two guys, and they both skate well, that could be a formidable pair in that bottom part of your rotation. Just have to find minutes for them to play.”
With how deep the Rangers are at the forward position, it’d be difficult enough to find regular minutes for one of them, much mess both. And if push comes to shove, it’s clear Maloney wants the Rangers to give Rempe the first opportunity — and a lasting one at that.
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