Peter Laviolette's Reason for Benching Fan Favorite Matt Rempe

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Joshua Deeds
October 15, 2024 (3:56 PM)

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The New York Rangers handed a convincing defeat to the Detroit Red Wings with a 4-1 victory.

But the Rangers didn't utilize fan favorite, Matt Rempe who has touted himself, as new and improved.

Thanks to work during the offseason, he hopes to one day develop into a forward, like Adam Lowry of the Winnipeg Jets.

But without ice time, and the ability to get reps it's hard for him to develop into a forward, rather than just the goon he was last year.

Instead, Laviolette opted to go with Jonny Brodzinski on the bottom six, who offers more of a scoring option rather than just brute force.

«There are going to be decisions every game,» Laviolette said. «They are different players. Sometimes I look at the opponent. It's different the way they play the game. I think Jonny brings some speed and some pace.

«He's a guy who's had high end production before he got to the NHL. Plays multiple positions, can jump in and take a faceoff. We made a decision to switch things up and we'll continue to make those decisions a lot this year. There will be lots of times where we'll have to pull players and take them out of the lineup.»

Rempe's not quite ready to be utilized everyday in the lineup for the Rangers, as his development is still ongoing.

He still has to put the pieces together in his game, before he can be trusted by Peter Laviolette in the lineup.

But the 22-year-old is still a fixture for the Rangers in the meantime, but it begs the question what would benefit him more?

Should he be in the AHL playing big minutes with the Hartford Wolfpack, putting his newly acquired skills together, or should he be a healthy scratch on a regular basis?

I think the Rangers should consider giving Rempe some time in the AHL to figure out his new game and show them what he's made of in the meantime.

Last season, Rempe played 17 games for the Rangers and scored 2 points( 1 G, 1 A).

However there needs to be a decision made, whether Rempe will be allowed to develop in the NHL or AHL, and it needs to be made quickly so the Rangers can plan out the next phase in their plans to win a Stanley Cup.