The New York Rangers don’t appear to be making any lineup changes ahead of Game 1 in their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. That means big and exciting rookie Matt Rempe will be on the ice when the puck drops on Sunday.
It makes a ton of sense to keep him in there, and why upset the apple cart after a resounding four game sweep of the Washington Capitals. Despite averaging just 6:46 of ice time per game, he was extremely impactful with 18 bone crushing hits. The 21-year-old even opened the Rangers’ postseason scoring in his NHL Playoffs debut in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round.
“I can’t think of a player that’s come in and had that impact on a team, on a fan base, on a city,” coach Peter Laviolette noted afterwards . “If you watch him and look at him, he just smiles. He’s just happy. He loves being here, loves to play the game. He’s been great.”
That being said, the Hurricanes are a far superior team to the Capitals and a platoon situation may be what’s best for both Rempe and the Rangers.