If anything, it’s about the opportunity for Matt Rempe.
He’ll get ice time with AHL Hartford that he didn’t with the Rangers — who scratched the 22-year-old in five of their first seven games — as early as Friday night, when the Wolf Pack hosted Lehigh Valley and Rempe, according to head coach Peter Laviolette, was to skate at center.
He was a scratch again during the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Panthers on Thursday.
Rangers center Matt Rempe (73) during the third period of a NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils.
And if he wasn’t going to play Saturday, either, it made sense for the Blueshirts to send Rempe — who became a fan favorite during the final stretch of last season with his crushing hits, old-school fights and personality — to the AHL in hopes of sparking additional development with the extra minutes, Laviolette said.
“He’s a young player,” Laviolette said Friday. “It’s like Zac [Jones], it’s like [Victor] Mancini. They’re young players. They can constantly build their game and get better. He can get better at wall play and getting out of the zone. He can get better at making that next play to get through the neutral zone, the offensive zone part of the game, attention to defense — I believe he’s playing center tonight, so he’s gonna find himself down low in D-zone coverage.
“All these things can help him become a better player.”
Rempe hadn’t been in the lineup since Oct. 19, and during his two cameos this season — with the other appearance the Blueshirts home opener — he logged just 3:40 and 7:37 of ice time.
Rangers center Matt Rempe (73) skates away from New York Islanders defenseman Isaiah George.
He made his NHL debut in February and immediately added a jolt to the Rangers lineup, even adding his second career goal during the playoff opener, before his ice time dwindled significantly — and then disappeared altogether in games against the Hurricanes and Panthers, when Laviolette made him a healthy scratch at times.
Rempe impressed with his offseason work, which included training with top-line winger Chris Kreider, during the Rangers camp, but eventually, he lost a fourth-line role given Adam Edström’s emergence — along with Sam Carrick and Jonny Brodzinski holding the other two spots at the moment.
“It can be a shot to the ego, for sure,” Carrick, the 32-year-old who signed with the Blueshirts in free agency and experienced what Rempe will now navigate earlier in his career, told The Post, “but I think you gotta look at the positives, which is, ‘Hey, he’s gonna go down there. He’s gonna play a ton.’
Peter Laviolette believes Matt Rempe’s AHL stint can help him improve.
“Lots of minutes. Lots of opportunities to get better. When he does get called up, which will be whenever some point, he’ll be a better player for it because he’s played in these big minutes.”
The Rangers shifted around defensive pairings during practice Friday, with Ryan Lindgren shifting up to the second pairing alongside Jacob Trouba, Braden Schneider bumping down and Jones — a healthy scratch for the last three games — replacing Mancini on the third pairing.
“Nobody’s happy when they get scratched, that’s for sure,” Jones said. “… It was more of just like, ‘Alright, take a reset, take a break, clear your head a little bit,’ and then whenever I get that next opportunity, take advantage of it.”
