Matt Rempe is heading into camp with a lot to prove and not much margin for error.
The Rangers forward told Mollie Walker of the New York Post on Thursday that there is “still a little work to be done” before he gets back to 100 percent after a hand injury that cost him most of the 2025-26 season. Rempe had two surgeries on the hand last season, and he said he tried to get back into the lineup too soon.
In December, he was still playing games without being able to properly grip his stick. His last game of 2025-26 came in early February.
Now the 24-year-old is set for what may be the most important training camp of his young career.
Rempe has never been hard to notice. At 6-foot-9 and 261 pounds, he is one of the NHL’s most physically imposing forwards, and he quickly became a fan favorite after debuting in 2023-24.
The big hits came with the territory, and Madison Square Garden crowds embraced every one of them. His presence also became part of the Rangers’ run to the Eastern Conference Final in his rookie season.
But the gap between being a crowd favorite and being a reliable everyday NHLer is still wide. Rempe’s value is clear when he’s throwing his weight around, but the rest of his game has not yet given him much room for error. He doesn’t bring much offensively, and he hasn’t shown the kind of defensive reliability that would make him a dependable option on the penalty kill or in late-game situations.
That leaves him with a narrow path to sticking in the league full time. He needs the physical edge he already provides, but he also needs a coach willing to see that role as worth carrying on a modern roster.
That’s why this camp matters so much. Rempe has to win over head coach Mike Sullivan, and he also has to beat out other young Rangers forwards fighting for limited bottom-six spots.
The competition is real. Jaroslav Chmelar and Adam Sykora, both former Hartford Wolf Pack teammates of Rempe’s, are in the mix after getting a taste of NHL action late last season.
The Rangers’ trade of Adam Edstrom to the Nashville Predators this summer has eased some of the crowding, and Rempe’s no longer being waivers-exempt helps his case. Still, Chmelar and Sykora showed real chemistry in the final weeks of the season and could carry that momentum into camp.
Neither player brings Rempe’s size or style, but they did enough late in 2025-26 to make clear they won’t be easy to push aside. Juuso Parssinen and Cole Beaudoin are also in the race for bottom-six spots.
It’s too soon to know how the roster will settle, but the Rempe battle is one of the key storylines to follow when training camp and preseason open in New York.
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