Please stop the Brendan Othmann hype already

Like so many, individuals were so looking forward to watching the New York Rangers make their 2024 exhibition debut against the Boston Bruins. That is until they saw the Madison Square Garden Network's badly hyping Brendan Othmann and focusing so much on him.

There is an exceedingly lengthy list of New York Ranger prospects who failed to develop into Rangers over the last thirty years and its important to place the blame at the feet of the Rangers themselves. The Rangers have made so many of their prospects look like they are so God-like that all they must do is show up and they will part the East River.

It isn't fair to do these kids, and it leads to fan expectations that are just not realistic. Othmann has all of one year as a professional under his belt.

The Rangers, by putting everything that Othmann does under the microscope has led to a few in the hockey media as well as some of the fans themselves to already label him as a bust.

Here is a reality check for those who are undecided where you fit in with Othmann; he could have a solid camp but still wind up being sent to Hartford rather than kept with the Rangers. The logic that sometimes escapes some in the media as well as the fans is that Othmann either plays on the first or second line or it doesn't make sense for the Rangers to keep him.

Please remember that Othmann is twenty-one which makes him still a kid. As a power forward, it takes a few years longer for them to fully develop into regulars at the NHL level.

So let's take a closer look at how Othmann did against the Boston Bruins on Sunday afternoon. He played a total of 16 shifts for a total on-ice time of 13:18. The time on ice was the sixth most among the forwards.

He was credited with all of one shot, was a -1 and earned a five-minute major penalty for fighting at the end of the second period. Othmann didn't record a single point, didn't take a faceoff and really just didn't do a whole lot of nothing to warrant so much attention during the telecast.

But you want to know which player got so little attention on Sunday? That would be rookie defenseman Victor Mancini:

On defense, the closest one might get to seeing a rookie earn a roster spot has to be 2022 fifth round pick Victor Mancini of the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Mancini, a 6'4 224 right-handed defenseman can best be described as a Marc Staal-clone

Mancini has flown under the radar to most Ranger fans but one really needs to add him to the mix of those contending for a spot on the Rangers third defensive pair. All Mancini did was go 1-1-2 on twenty-five shifts for a total on-ice time of 23:06.

Mancini, who has two months of professional hockey on his resume, led all Ranger defensemen in shorthanded time on ice (2:17), in power play time on-ice (4:02 which was more than the other five dressed defensemen combined) .

Mancini, whose offense didn't even start to develop until the middle of last season, was the Rangers best defenseman out there tonight. Had there been stars of the game awarded then there was no way that Mancini was not going to get one.

The one defenseman that the Rangers did kind of hype up was Matthew Robertson who played barely 8:13 on ten shifts.

The Rangers should just throw their hype machine into the trash and let these kids give the fans a reason to like or dislike them with their own performances. It would be the best way to take a lot of pressure off these prospects.