2026 Rangers Report Card: Matt Rempe

This article is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2025-26 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

To read the Season Preview for Matt Rempe, go here. 

Let's rewind the clock a bit.

It's the 2023-24 season. The New York Rangers are one of the best teams in hockey and are getting ready to face off against the New York Islanders in front of nearly 80,000 fans outdoors at MetLife Stadium. Right after the Rangers take an early 1-0 lead, a young forward drops the gloves with Matt Martin during his first ever shift in the NHL and quickly wins over the hearts of fans.

Fast forward to now, and Matt Rempe has gone from hero to zero. This season was supposed to be when Rempe established himself as a mainstay on the Rangers' fourth line. Instead, there is more doubt than ever if he returns to New York City.

Expectations

Last offseason, Rempe inked a two-year deal with the organization after playing out his entry-level contract. However, the contract was one-way, laying out that general manager Chris Drury believed Rempe would establish a permanent role with the team. The 6-9 giant was projected to play on the fourth line, serving as a player who would bring energy, deliver hits, and of course drop the gloves when needed. Head coach Mike Sullivan started the season deploying Rempe on the bottom line with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom.

Coming off an eight-point season, there were not many eyes on the offensive aspect of his game, but there was still hope he would take a step forward. At the beginning of the season, Rempe played on the second power play unit as a net-front presence, trying to screen the goaltender and tip the puck. On defense, the assumption was that he would be a net positive, but it was never anticipated that he would be a lockdown defensive forward. As mentioned, his primary reason for being on the roster was to bring juice, to hit, and to fight.

One area that Rempe did need to improve was his ability to stay on the ice. In each of his previous two seasons with the Rangers, he had racked up a total of 138 penalty minutes despite only playing 59 games and had been suspended multiple times. If Rempe was ever going to establish his spot in the NHL, he was going to need to learn to stay on the ice.

Performance

26 GP | 1 G | 0 A | 1 P | -4 | 15 SOG |11 PIM

Even though Rempe stayed clear of any suspensions during the 2025-26 season, it was still his nature as an enforcer that kept him off the ice. In the first period of the team's ninth game of the year against the San Jose Sharks, Rempe dropped the gloves with Ryan Reaves. The tilt not only didn't go Rempe's way on the ice, but it also resulted in a thumb injury that led to him going on long term injured reserve.

Prior to the injury, Rempe continued to be the high-motor player he displayed in prior seasons but also was in the box substantially less. In the eight games he played before his fight with Reaves, Rempe had only earned a single two minutes minor. The season prior, Rempe had racked up a total of 24 penalty minutes in his first eight games, showing it may be possible for him to stay out of the box.

Rempe's only point of the season came during that stretch via a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was only a small stretch of games, but he was playing a consistent game and appeared to be a solid option for the Blueshirts' fourth line. He had also done a good job of avoiding fights, having ignored Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj just two games earlier when Xhekaj repeatedly challenged him.

After the thumb injury he suffered, Rempe missed 24 games throughout October and November, but returned in the middle of December against the Anaheim Ducks. Rempe then appeared in 16 of the next 23 games over that stretch where he went pointless. Over the course of those games, it was clear that the energy and physicality that earned him his spot was gone.

Without those parts of his game, Rempe was useless on the ice. His offensive game, regardless of whether the thumb injury played a role in his performance, was below average, and he no longer warranted a spot in the lineup. During the Olympic break, Rempe underwent a cleanup procedure on his thumb. He was placed back on long term injured reserve and stayed there for the remainder of the season.

Grades

Author's Grade: F

Banter Consensus: F (Note: Two Banter writers graded him "Incomplete.")

Final Evaluation

Based on his poor performance and the emergence of players like Jaroslav Chmelar and Adam Sykora, Matt Rempe does not appear to have a spot heading into the 2026-27 season. Both of those players have shown they bring just as much energy as Rempe and are already better offensive players with more upside. Rempe plays a one-dimensional game and is not good enough comparatively defensively to justify dressing.

The role he tries to play of enforcer is obsolete in the modern NHL and can no longer justify eating up a roster spot. Numerous players on the Rangers have shown a willingness to fight and, frankly, Rempe is just not a very good fighter. Fighting is one of the few characteristics of an enforcer, and he is consistently losing the fights he gets into.

Despite being under contract for another season, I doubt he will call Madison Square Garden home next year. The team has plenty of fourth line options, most of which are more intriguing than Rempe. Since he is on a one-way deal, he would need to clear waivers to be assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack. Even with the down year, the way NHL coaches and executives value size and physicality, he would likely get claimed, which could mean the end of Matt Rempe in New York.