Rangers provide mixed news with Matt Rempe, Vincent Trocheck injury updates
There was some good news sprinkled in with some of the bad variety Tuesday, when New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan shared injury updates for forwards Matt Rempe and Vincent Trocheck.
Getting the bad news out of the way first, Rempe is out “longer term” with an upper-body injury. The 23-year-old sustained the injury last Thursday in a fight with San Jose Sharks enforcer — and former Blueshirt — Ryan Reaves. Ironically, it was Rempe’s first fight of the season, and now it’s going to cost him significant time out of the lineup.
The better news is that Trocheck skated Monday for the first time since he sustained an upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 9. The 32-year-old center skated again Tuesday and is eligible to come off LTIR before New York’s final game of its current four-game road trip Saturday in Seattle against the Kraken.
Over the weekend, Sullivan wasn’t optimistic that Trocheck would play in Seattle. The popular alternate captain misses his ninth game Tuesday when the Rangers visit the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers are 2-4-2 without him in the lineup.
These are the first games Trocheck missed in four seasons with the Rangers. He’s nearly impossible to replace considering he plays 20+ minutes a night and in all game situations, including the top units on both specialty teams. Trocheck is also New York’s best face-off man — and one of the best in the League.
Rempe has turned into a valuable lineup regular for the Rangers this season, helping spearhead the fourth line with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom. He’s averaging a career-high 9:48 TOI, scored one goal and earned the trust of Sullivan. His energy and presence were sorely missed in a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday to start this trip.
Brennan Othmann scratched even with Matt Rempe out of Rangers lineup
After drawing into the lineup Sunday to take Rempe’s spot, Brennan Othmann is a healthy scratch Tuesday. Othmann missed the net on a glorious scoring opportunity in the second period against the Flames, then had a missed defensive assignment at the other end of the ice when Yegor Sharangovich scored to give the Flames a 3-1 lead at the time.
“I thought in the game the other night, there were some good things that he did,” Sullivan explained. “There were also some moments where attention to detail could have helped us keep the puck out of the net. Things of that nature. We’ll continue to work with ‘Otter’ with respect to those details and what those mean.”
That was Othmann’s first game with the Rangers this season. He was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League after Rempe was hurt against the Sharks. Othmann is now without a goal in 26 NHL games, though that’s not what concerns Sullivan the most.
“This is the conversation that him and I have had throughout the course of training camp, before training camp started. I sat with him after the Lehigh Valley, the rookie games, and trying to define for him what the expectation is, and how we could potentially earn a roster spot,” Sullivan told reporters Tuesday after the morning skate.
“And I think the most important element of it is just attention to detail, reliability, knowing your job, doing your job, play away from the puck. That was where his focus, I think, needed to be. We’re looking for that element as an important aspect of him earning a roster spot.”
Jonny Brodzinski plays his first game since Oct. 12, taking Othmann’s spot in the lineup. Brodzinski, who’s pointless in two games, joins Carrick and Edstrom on the fourth line. Juuso Parssinen moves up to the third line with Noah Laba and Taylor Raddysh.
Defenseman Matthew Robertson is a healthy scratch Tuesday for the first time in eight games. He’ll be replaced by Urho Vaakanainen.
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