While this season was a major let down for the New York Rangers, there were some players on their roster who earned passing marks and special accolades. And as many Rangers fans likely will agree, Matt Rempe is one of those players.
Expectations
Despite working incredibly hard to improve his all-around game this past offseason and more often than not being the last player off the ice at optional morning skates, expectations for Rempe were fairly low. As a late sixth round draft pick in 2020 (No. 165) his road to the NHL was bound to be a long shot. Pair this with the fact that after playing 17 games across the 2023-24 league season while only putting up two points — and yeah, New York Rangers fans were looking elsewhere at what players they were most looking forward to seeing on the ice.
However, with "Remps" standing at 6'9" and weighing 255 pounds — having no expectations for an enforcer and ignoring the biggest guy on the ice is impossible.
Performance
While the 22-year-old still took his fair share of penalties, he endured unfair treatment from referees and at one point an eight-game suspension, Rempe finished with eight points and 117 hits. His skating was much better and he looked more comfortable on both ends, which led to an increase in ice time.
The Alberta, Canada native always brought energy and made a positive impact when he was on the ice. Remps' significant improvements this year earned him a regular spot in the New York lineup and helped him gain more confidence. He demonstrated a better understanding of his role, focusing on specific aspects of his game and became more reliable in both offense and defense.
This resulted in him averaging at or around 8:30 TOI per game, around a three minute increase from the previous year. In those precious minutes on the ice — Rempe demonstrated a key ability to utilize screen plays in addition to maintaining his physical presence in a more effective way; he regularly shielding pucks and creating scoring chances.
"I'm just trying to get better," Rempe previously said. "I feel like I can be a very effective bottom-six player who is fast, mean, physical, skates well, protects pucks, goes to the net, is good around the net, can play center or wing. I want to be a good penalty killer. I feel like I can be a guy one day on a shutdown line that can be very hard to play against and also create some offense around the net, bring pucks to the net. I've got a long way to go but that's all I'm working toward."
By the early conclusion of the Rangers season in the year after the won the Presidents' Trophy, Rempe finished with eight points (five assists, three goals) across 42 games played.
"I think I improved a lot, especially from last year," Rempe also said. "From the beginning of the season to the end, I think a lot of development happened. My game got a lot better. I still got a lot of work to do. I still want to work on all parts of my game. I made big strides from last year, so that was good."
Where They Go From Here
Rempe's current contract is a three-year, $2.5 million entry-level deal with the New York Rangers, signed on Nov. 4, 2021. It includes a $240,000 signing bonus. The cap hit for his current contract is $820,000 per season. His contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.
While there are some out there who say Rempe might not be returning as a Blueshirt, us here at Blue Line Station simply say — wrong. The announcement of a contract extension should come any day now; he brings too much fanfare for the Rangers to part ways with him. This in addition to his recent imrpovement, prove he should remain a Blueshirt.