If you’ve watched an NHL game in the past six months, there’s probably a good chance you’ve heard the name Matt Rempe. The 22-year-old center made a name for himself in 17 short games. It began by getting into a fight with Matt Martin—in his first career NHL game: a stadium series game against the New York Islanders. The six-foot-eight and-a-half forward has provided a proverbial boost for the Rangers— putting a palpable sense of excitement in the arena and hit the game running–well, skating.
The Calgary, Alberta native played in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds and was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 6th round of the 2020 NHL draft. Rempe will still technically be considered a rookie next season, as is any player who is under 26 and has played fewer than 25 games.
Rempe was drafted 165th, to be precise. Now, I bring that up because, in this era of the NHL, being the first pick isn’t everything. Not everyone needs to be Jack Hughes—I feel people put too much pressure on pure finesse.
Some of the most excellent Rangers were taken in the later rounds of the draft— The King [Henrik Lundqvist] went 205— although goalies are usually taken a bit later— Igor went 118. If you look at players— Panarin went undrafted. If you look throughout the league, you’ve got some of the best— Vegas Captain Mark Stone, Islanders Captain Anders Lee, Dallas Captain Jamie Benn, Former Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski, Cam Atkinson— did I mention Jesper Bratt was picked number 162? Very close to 165— he’s got a whole fandom on the Devils.
Now, Rempe needs some skill development, but he is definitely effective as a fourth-liner. The Rangers had some troubles in recent years with player development, but all things considered, if he works on specific aspects of his game, he can become a skilled player. You’ve got to remember he’s only 22. He has some time to develop—he has shown he has a solid foundation. With some more training, he can definitely improve the quality of some things, such as skating and goal-scoring ability.
My main concern with Rempe is just—the hitting. Standing at 6’8 and a half means you have much more velocity than the other players. You can tell me I’m making excuses, but the average NHL player is 6’1— and seven inches is a lot when you put it in perspective. Like imagine someone being five feet vs five-seven. Tack on the fact that that’s the average height; you can get a lot of players who fall at elbow level, factoring in how you hold a stick; he needs to be very careful with hits— especially open ice hits.
Take Alex Debrincat, the shortest player [some argue it’s Cole Caufield due to a side-by-side] in the league at 5’7— that’s a one foot and one-inch difference. I don’t think Rempe should try hitting him just from a logical standpoint. From a proportional standard as well, it just— it’s a big difference. It could be a hit with the cleanest intentions, but there is inevitably some elbow raising in any hit by the way velocity works— watch a car crash test. Usually, it just doesn’t hit a player. I’m not saying he’s too tall to hit, I’m just saying he needs to practice how to hit— at his height— his elbow is at head level especially when it’s tucked in holding a stick.
With Barclay Goodrow placed on waivers and claimed by the San Jose Sharks, Rempe is now the only big fighter on the team, which raises some concerns. I’m not anti-fight by any means, but I think something that would be helpful is if he learned how to select when to fight—as sometimes, well, there is the thing as a poorly timed fight. A five-minute major isn’t always worth it.
I decided to ask some Ranger fans— and other people what they thought of him to get some opinions:
“He’s great, even though he doesn’t have the greatest skills— He hypes the team up and fights everyone he can.” (Matt Fry)
“Good enforcer.” (My Bruins fan cousin. )
Getting into the quick adoption of Rempe as a critical player is complex. It has much to do with Matt Martin’s fight in his first game, but different fans have different reasons. A Rempe jersey is at the top of my birthday list and is a top-selling item on fanatics, with a game-worn jersey being sold for 4-thousand dollars.
