Matt Rempe injury creates Rangers opportunity for 2 young forwards
Matt Rempe’s upper-body injury which will sideline him week to week should allow fellow youngsters Brett Berard and Juuso Parssinen to get more of a shot in the New York Rangers lineup. Each has found it difficult to consistently remain in the lineup, but now there’s a full-time spot opened up with Rempe out.
Since returning Jan. 9 from an eight-game suspension for elbowing Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, Rempe had played 31 of the past 32 games as a regular on the fourth line. Now, with both Rempe and Adam Edstrom (injured Feb. 1) out, more opportunities should be there for Berard and Parssinen.
Each brings youth and a similar tenacity the Rangers sorely need with every game being a must-win at this stage, and with the physical Rempe missing from the lineup. But there are differences in their respective games and skill set.
It appears Berard will replace Rempe on the fourth line Friday when the Rangers visit the Anaheim Ducks, skating on a line with Sam Carrick (who’s back after missing one game due to the birth of his son) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (who made his Rangers debut in the 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday). The 22-year-old was a healthy scratch the past two games after playing five in a row.
Berard, a fifth round pick in New York’s notable 2020 draft class, has bounced between the NHL and AHL this season, his second in the pros. He had a very productive first full season with Hartford in the American Hockey League last season, leading them with 25 goals. Though a smaller player, at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, Berard plays a fearless game, and isn’t afraid to fire the puck, and do so effectively.
He had his first NHL call-up in November, right when the Rangers started to nosedive. After picking up an assist in his NHL debut on Nov. 25 against the St. Louis Blues, Berard followed up the next game with a big goal against the Carolina Hurricanes to make it a 2-2, before the Rangers lost 4-3.
After those first two games, Berard registered a single point in the next 11 contests and only six points in 17 games before he was returned to Hartford on Jan. 10. Since his last call-up in early March, he has no points in 8 games, raising the question if he is ready to be a full-time NHLer.
Work ethic isn’t the issue with Berard. Using his small stature to be the effective forechecker he was as a prospect at Providence College, and finding the space to get his shot off the way he did in Hartford, remains to be seen consistently in the top league in the world. He enters the final season of his entry-level contract next season, leaving the Rangers the flexibility to send him down unless he proves himself worthy of a full-time stay in the NHL.
All told, the speedy wing has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 28 games playing up and down the Rangers lineup, though primarily in a bottom-six role.
Related: Why Rangers shouldn’t replace Peter Laviolette with John Tortorella
Juuso Parssinen struggling to get untracked since trade to Rangers
Parssinen is a totally different project. A seventh-round pick by the Nashville Predators in the 2019 draft, Parssinen is on his third team this season, coming to New York in the March 1 Ryan Lindgren/Jimmy Vesey trade with the Colorado Avalanche. This after he had recently been acquired from Nashville on Dec. 28. Hope he had a suitcase on Christmas wish list.
While Parssinen has many more miles traveled on his resume than Berard, the biggest difference is his 6-foot-3, 212-pound frame. Another thing that separates the two is Parssinen’s ability to play center. The Rangers were quick to experiment with this, debuting him in the 3C slot left vacant after Filip Chytil was moved in the J.T. Miller trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31.
Though he has near-identical size to Chytil, there’s a reason why Chytil was a first-round draft pick and Parssinen was not. The 24-year-old has been an inconsistent producer offensively, though did have 25 points (six goals, 19 assists) in 45 games as a rookie with the Predators in 2022-23.
He seemed to be worth taking a shot on, if for nothing else than this crazy overtime goal two seasons ago against the Minnesota Wild.
This experiment at center was short lived, as the offensive efficiency just wasn’t there, and he hasn’t been much better on the wing. He’s yet to record a single shot on goal — much less a point — in eight games with the Rangers, though his ice time has been very limited. He’s also bee in and out of the lineup — playing four straight, scratched for five in a row, then playing four consecutive games again.
That said, his ability to step up for his new teammates was visible quickly on March 5 (just four days after joining the team) in a game against the Washington Capitals. After teammate Brennan Othmann took a questionable hit from behind from Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary, Parssinen was quick to step in and take on anyone willing for his first NHL fight. Unfortunately for him, it was Capitals proven veteran Matt Roy who obliged Parssinen in what ended up to be a mismatch.
The result of the fight didn’t matter nearly as much as Parssinen willing to come to the aid of his new teammate against a team that imposed its will on the Rangers at The Garden. By the time the dust settled and the game was ready to resume, it seemed as if every Rangers skater made his way to the sin bin to show their appreciation for Parssinen.
But he’s clearly not here to be a fighter. He must get his two-way game going or he could be looking for a new home next season.
With new dad Carrick and the Stanley Cup champion Aube-Kubel providing a veteran presence on the fourth line, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette chose Berard over Parssinen to play Friday. That could change Saturday against the San Jose Sharks, or Aube-Kubel could come out of the lineup, too.
The Rangers will have no reservations about replacing either come next season if they don’t show something here down the stretch. The numbers may even already work against each of them since they are late-round draft picks, though Berard is popular and has support within the organization. Each has accomplished quite a bit just being in the NHL already.
But with every loss in the lineup comes opportunity. Rempe’s cues up a healthy competition in practices and in games for Berard and Parssinen to show their story is just getting started, especially in these incredibly meaningful games remaining.
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