According to Mollie Walker with the New York Post, fan-favorite enforcer and 22-year-old forward Matt Rempe is now listed as week to week due to an upper body injury. With Rempe out of the lineup, rookie Brett Berard is expected to draw back in his place. However, it seems as if Nicolas Aube-Kubel will also remain with the Rangers after being recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack earlier this week.
Can Berard and Aube-Kubel step up?
Berard has appeared in 28 games this season for the Rangers, and has posted a line of 4-4-8 while averaging 10:41 per game. Rempe up to this point had appeared in 36 games averaging 7:59 per game, and has a line of 2-3-5. The change could potentially result in some new line combinations, with New York Rangers Head Coach Peter Laviolette having more flexibility in making a lineup with someone like Berard as opposed to Rempe, who only would skate on the fourth line, and often sees very little play in the third period.
Also noteworthy, in only his rookie season Berard has already tallied eight points across four goals and four assists.
New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced on Monday that the club has recalled forward Nicolas Aubé-Kubel from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
Aubé-Kubel, 28-years-old, has scored one goal in three games with the Wolf Pack this season. He recorded the overtime winner in the club’s 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night.
Additionally, Aubé-Kubel has spent time with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and the AHL’s Rochester Americans this season. He recorded eight points ( four goals, four assists) in 12 games with the Americans and two points (one goal, one assist) in 19 games with the Sabres.
In 301 career NHL games with the Sabres, Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Philadelphia Flyers, Aubé-Kubel has recorded 80 points (32 goals, 48 assists). He’s also appeared in 255 career AHL games with the Wolf Pack, Americans, Hershey Bears, and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, scoring 117 points (56 goals, 61 assists).
Aubé-Kubel was selected in the second round, 48th overall, by the Flyers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.