The New York Rangers are in the middle of a significant break that is coming at a good time, with the team struggling. However, even though it is early in the season, the team could potentially entertain a trade. 

While the season got off to a great start for the Rangers, they have certainly slipped up of late. New York has lost three straight and five of their last six, and this is a team that was in need of a reset. 

Losing goalie Igor Shesterkin for the rest of the year undoubtedly altered the fate of the team this year, but some of the recent struggles haven’t been all goalie-related. 

The last time the Rangers had a game was on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings. While that game resulted in their perfect record at home coming to an end, they won’t be back in action until Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers. 

Being led right now by a ridiculous start to the season for Connor McDavid, the Oilers are playing good hockey and will be a challenging matchup on Sunday for the Rangers. However, while these two teams will face off to end the week, they also could be trade partners in the near future. 

Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet recently wrote about the Oilers potentially being interested in Rangers forward Matt Rempe. 

Oilers Looking to Add Toughness

With Seravalli highlighting that Edmonton and Mike Babcock are looking to add some toughness to the lineup, that is a role that Rempe could help fill. 

So far this season, the big bruiser for New York hasn’t seen a lot of action and has been mostly watching. The 24-year-old has played in just two of the 14 games for the Rangers and is averaging less than seven minutes of ice time. 

Rempe missed a lot of time last year with a thumb injury, but he was healthy during camp and the preseason and still hasn’t seen much action yet. 

For an Oilers team looking to add some toughness, Rempe would fit the bill. He is not afraid to mix it up on the ice, and if the goal is to add an enforcer to help protect some of their stars, he is capable of doing that. 

Edmonton has to be very smart going forward without a long-term commitment from McDavid. The star wants to win a Stanley Cup, and the Oilers have ultimately come up short. While adding Rempe wouldn’t be a major move, it could be a minor one that solves a want for Edmonton.