For a team that prides itself on being a classy operation, the Rangers are making curious moves in what can best be called "The Matt Rempe Burlesque."
What the Blueshirt general staff has done is take a prospect with some useful talent and
convert him into a useless goon.
This was evident on Tuesday night in Washington when management – surprisingly – promoted the six-foot-seven skater from Hartford and inserted him into the lineup for two purposes – win a fight and inspire the Rangers to victory.
Everybody in the hockey world knew that Rempe knew why he was there. So early in the first period he dropped his gloves and slugged it out with Caps defenseman Dylan McIlrath.
What started out as a robust bout ended with Rempe suffering a bloodied left cheek and that was that.
If the brawl served to inspire the Rangers, you could have fooled me. The Rangers were heavily outshot, outplayed and out everything-ed in losing, 5-3.
All signs indicate that Rempe's punches did nothing to help the team and – more to the point – nothing to enhance the player's usefulness. Longtime scout Jess Rubenstein weights in with these thoughts:
"I've covered Rempe since his Junior days in Seattle. The biggest issue I've found is that coaches simply just don't know how to use him properly. Sure it's easy to send him out as an enforcer but that gets the least amount of effectiveness.
"What they should do is tell him to park himself in the slot area. Most defensemen have no clue how to move him without taking a penalty. Matt has excellent eye-hand coordination and – in the slot – he can redirect pucks past goalies who can't see the puck coming."
For whatever reasons, Laviolette refuses to take advantage of Rempe's true assets; and that's the coach's problem. As veteran columnist Patrick Hoffman offers, "The only way Rempe is going to get better in the NHL is if Laviolette gives him more ice time."
The Rangers host the revived Ottawa Senators at The Garden on Friday night. Based on the events in Washington, the ruination of Rempe will evolve with him not playing at all.
"If the club wants to get more than two minutes of fighting out of Rempe," Rubenstein concludes. "Then let him take regular shifts."
