Jimmy Vesey is on the verge of making a return to the Rangers lineup: Who's in and who's out?

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Joshua Deeds
November 1, 2024 (11:52 PM)

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Jimmy Vesey was one of Rangers' best bottom-six forwards in 2023-2024, and without him, the lineup isn't as deep.

Vesey is due to return to the lineup from a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since training camp.

The Ranger's tenth game of the season took place last night against the Ottawa Senators.

During a practice in training camp, Vesey went down and was laboring in pain on the ice as he quickly limped his way back into the locker room.

As of late though, the 31-year-old forward has been a full participant at practice recently and is no longer wearing a non-contact jersey.

This gives the Rangers the ability to bring Vesey back into the lineup from LTIR. News of him practicing has been good news for Peter Laviolette who will have another depth weapon at his disposal.

In the meantime, he'll have to figure out what to do with Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe when Vesey does eventually slot back into the lineup.

Despite Rempe being a fan favorite, it seems likely he'll end up back in Hartford to play with the Wolfpack when Vesey does return.

Rempe has already been a healthy scratch through the majority of games for the Rangers with Jonny Brozinski taking his place and his playing time will take even more of a dip due to Vesey's arrival to the lineup.

Tonight Jonny Brodzinski will slotted into RW4, and as of the 1st period hasn't exactly been a revelation either.

This all seems so odd because he is trekking from the AHL and NHL too often when Laviolette claims that he wants to see Rempe develop.

«Got to go play 17/18/19 minutes the last two games, played center, played all situations,» Rempe said about his time in Hartford. «It was good for me... Hadn't played a lot of minutes in a long while so it was good for me to get all those game situations, feel the puck, play not just the physical side and play in a top-six role.»

If Rempe is to continue to develop he must stay in the AHL, despite the fact it's a tough pill to swallow.

He claimed he wanted to build his game similar to 3C in Winnipeg, Adam Lowry, and will need to show us what he's learned this summer.

When enforcers are utilized less and less in the game, let him build up his skillset instead of killing his development by calling him up.

You already have Adam Edstrom.