Rempe's demotion was about ice time. It's clear Peter Laviolette doesn't trust Rempe on the ice enough to offset the target on his back from the refs. This was evident against Utah, when he played just 3 minutes. His only other game was against Toronto, playing 7 very ineffective minutes. Rempe has the potential to be an NHL regular, but even when you take out the penalties (earned or not), he still has some growth to do.
Rempe's demotion will help him get regular ice time with the Wolf Pack to work on these areas. Better reads are certainly on the list, as are skating and decision making. The kid is 22 years old. Making the jump to the NHL at that age-he was 21 during his run last season-is relatively rare for a fourth line player. If he wants to survive in the NHL and have a lengthy career, he needs to do more than just 'be a threat.'
Though it is funny how Rempe's demotion will impact teams like the Devils, who specifically signed Kurtis MacDermid to 'deal with him.' MacDermid is not a good hockey player, never was. The Islanders just signed Matt Martin, and though this was after Rempe's demotion, it's still funny to see other teams try to get the Rempe effect. The truth is, outside of opponents galaxy braining things-and perhaps an odd encounter with a bitter Ryan Reaves-Rempe doesn't really have an impact on the game anymore.
Collection
[
|
...
]