Opinion: Rempe’s Reckless Hit On Stars’ Heiskanen Needs To Result In Major Suspension

The New York Rangers’ recent struggles are the prime concern for the Original Six franchise, but the antics of Rangers right winger Matt Rempe are providing a notable distraction from the Blueshirts’ woes. And now that Rempe is scheduled for an in-person hearing for his brutal hit on Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen Friday, it’s time the league takes a harsher stance with Rempe and punishes him to the fullest extent of the collective bargaining agreement.

You can make all the excuses you want for Rempe, but here’s the ugly truth: the 22-year-old has played 22 NHL games, and in that span, Rempe has been ejected from a game four times. This is not something that’s happened by accident. This is something that’s completely under Rempe’s control. And the NHL’s Department of Player Safety now has to crack down on Rempe’s reckless hits and give him a suspension of six games or more.

Rempe’s previous suspension – a four-game suspension in March for elbowing New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler – did not dissuade him from taking another vicious elbowing penalty Friday against Heiskanen. That’s a significant problem for the Department of Player Safety, and they need to send an even more punitive message to the 6-foot-9 Rempe and others like him. That message: you can’t blame your big body for hurting opponents, you have to control your body like every other NHLer has to do, and if you can’t do that, you’re not going to be playing in the NHL. It really is that simple.

Before he was recalled to the Rangers, Rempe had been spending his time in the American League. And in 18 AHL games, Rempe produced just three goals and five points. Meanwhile, in the five NHL games he’s played this season, Rempe has averaged just 6:15 of ice time per game. This is not an NHL player who can impact the game in any way other than his over-the-top actions that consistently harm opponents. This is not a legitimate NHLer.

Related: Rangers’ Matt Rempe Ejected For Fourth Time In 22 Career NHL Games

Certainly, big-bodied players have been able to play in the NHL without constantly being a major danger to their fellow players. Look at Zdeno Chara and Tyler Myers. Players like those two giants demonstrated they can play within the rulebook and not constantly injure their opponents. Rempe hasn’t shown he can do the same thing.

This is why the league has to suspend Rempe – from our perspective, for more than six games. For this writer, eight games should be the starting point in terms of a Rempe suspension for his hit on Heiskanen. That’s approximately 10 percent of the season. That’s a fair amount of time. And if Rempe continues to run afoul of the NHL’s laws, his next suspension should be 10 games or more. Indeed, if the Rangers want to keep trotting out a player who isn’t a capable NHLer, the NHL needs to step in and prevent that player from continuing to hurt people.

Rempe and the Rangers can dispute the player safety process until they’re blue in the face, but the proof of Rempe’s destructive impact is right there on video for all to see. To be sure, Rempe should be using his upcoming suspension to change his game. And if he doesn’t change it, the NHL should end his ability to play in hockey’s top league.

Being in the NHL is a privilege, and Rempe’s latest actions should severely curb his privilege of playing in the NHL. If Rempe doesn’t stop hurting his opponents, the league has to take the wheel and keep him off the ice until he finally figures out how to play the game properly. The NHL game is a physical one, but there are limits to that physicality, and Rempe has regularly exceeded those limits. Enough is enough with this guy.

It’s not a crime to be 6-foot-9 in the NHL. But it is a crime to throw your big body around knowing full well you’re going to injure players on the other team. Until Rempe understands and accepts that reality, the league should be throwing the book at him.

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