Matt Rempe has been a healthy scratch two out of the New York Rangers’ three regular season games.
Even when he did play, Rempe only recorded 3:40 minutes in the game.
After all of the talk about Rempe’s offseason improvements, why does Peter Laviolette still not trust the young enforcer?
He explained his reasoning for benching Rempe in favor of Jonny Brodzinski following New York’s 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.
“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.”
For fans who thought Rempe would be an everyday player, that is just not where he’s at in terms of his development.
The 22-year-old has potential, but he must put all of the tools together before he really earns the trust of Laviolette to play big minutes.
A legitimate question is whether Rempe is better off being with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League right now?
He’s clearly not going to be serving a substantial role with the Rangers, but he could in Hartford, which could ultimately help his development.
Rempe will most likely just stay with the Rangers and hopefully remaining at the NHL level will benefit him in the long run.
As far as Rempe’s playing time goes, expect more of the same unless the Rangers are dealing with a string of injuries.
