The Edmonton Oilers may be shopping for more edge, but the question is whether Matt Rempe is actually the answer.
Frank Seravalli reported in a recent Sportsnet article that Edmonton could have interest in the New York Rangers forward, with Mike Babcock pushing internally for more size and brawn up front while GM Stan Bowman looks at the trade market. Seravalli wrote, “Babcock has campaigned internally for more size and brawn in his forward group, which GM Stan Bowman is now examining on the trade market. One name that Babcock is believed to admire is New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe.”
That tracks with the way Babcock has talked all season. He has repeatedly leaned on ideas like “battle level” and competitiveness when discussing what it takes to win, and size has clearly been part of that conversation.
He once said of Shakir Mukhamadullin, “he’s 6-foot-5 every night, and I like that.” Earlier in the year, he even compared Mukhamadullin to a tree rather than a bush, saying trees are much harder to get around.
Rempe, 24, fits the size part of the equation in a big way. At 6-foot-9 and 268 pounds, he stands out immediately and brings the kind of intimidation factor some teams still chase. But the rest of his game comes with real limitations.
He has struggled with foot speed, has taken his share of penalties, and his reputation as a fighter doesn’t quite match the reality. HockeyFights shows he has been in only 11 regular-season fights over the last three years, with one last season and one so far this year.
The offense hasn’t offered much help either. In 82 career NHL games, Rempe has five goals and six assists for 11 points.
He averages 7:56 of ice time per game and has often been stuck on the bench for long stretches. He has also been a healthy scratch at times, though injuries affected his availability last season, when multiple thumb surgeries limited him to 42 games.
That was a career high.
Edmonton could certainly make a deal if Bowman decides this is the kind of player Babcock wants, but that doesn’t mean it would make much sense. The Oilers already have plenty of bottom-six forwards fighting for ice time, and adding another limited depth piece doesn’t solve much.
The bigger issue is that Rempe doesn’t look like a player on the verge of becoming something more. The league keeps moving toward speed, skill, and puck possession, and players whose main selling point is intimidation are harder to justify than they used to be.
Edmonton may already have a better fit in the system. Connor Clattenburg plays the style of hockey the Oilers would likely be hoping to get from Rempe.
He throws his weight around, is willing to fight, and brings chaos every time he’s on the ice. He doesn’t have Rempe’s size at 6-foot-2 and 219 pounds, but he looks like the more complete player and he’s only 21.
A trade for Rempe also wouldn’t fix Edmonton’s scoring depth, improve the penalty kill, or address the issues holding the team back. If anything, it could add another penalty-prone player to a shorthanded unit that has already had its moments of trouble this season.
Still, there’s no denying the appeal of a player built like Rempe.
If Babcock pushes hard enough, Bowman might decide the risk is low enough to take. The price, at least on paper, would probably be modest.
A fifth-round pick would at least make the discussion worth having. Anything beyond that should be too much for Edmonton to pay.
In Other News...
Mike Sullivans Rangers Identity Is Taking Shape Under Real Pressure
Mike Sullivan arrived in New York with the kind of mandate that only follows a collapse, inheriting a Rangers team that had gone from winning the Presidents Trophy to finishing last in the Eastern Conference. Early on, the change has looked less like a quick fix and more like a slow rebuild of habits, with the Rangers leaning into a more aggressive, structured style that Sullivan has tried to imprint from day one.
The encouraging part for the Rangers is that the process has not been derailed by adversity, even with key injuries complicating the picture, including stretches without Igor Shesterkin. The identity Sullivan has been pressing for is starting to show up in the details, especially on the defensive side, and while the full payoff still feels a little ways off, the team has already given reason to believe the system is taking hold under real pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Goaltending Collapse Is Making Igor Shesterkin Look Even More Valuable
The Rangers have spent the weeks since Igor Shesterkin went down trying to keep the position afloat, and it has only underscored how much his presence normally stabilizes everything behind them. New York leaned on veteran James Reimer in one spot start, but the goaltending picture has remained shaky enough that Dylan Garand has been pushed into a far bigger role than anyone likely envisioned when the season began.
Garand has become the name the Rangers have had to trust while the rest of the depth chart sorts itself out, and the contrast with Shesterkin has been hard to miss. Managements decision to lock up Shesterkin long-term already looked important when the deal was signed, and it feels even more significant now with the team trying to survive without the kind of netminding it was built to expect. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Bottom Six Suddenly Has A Real Taylor Raddysh Problem
Taylor Raddyshs path with the Rangers has already taken a quick turn this season. After being placed on waivers and sent to Hartford, the veteran winger wasted little time making his presence felt in the AHL, then got another chance in New York when rookie Jaroslav Chmela struggled to provide much impact at the NHL level. Once back with the big club, Raddysh has fit in well enough in a limited role to keep himself in the conversation.
Now the question is how the Rangers want to sort out a bottom six that still looks like it could use more stability. The coaching staff is weighing lineup changes to get more out of that group, and Raddyshs usefulness in brief minutes only adds to the intrigue. For a team looking for better play deeper in the lineup, his situation has become one of the more interesting roster decisions on the board. [Read more 🡒]