Rangers recall Brennan Othmann, and it’s about time

It’s about time, as the Rangers recall top prospect Brennan Othmann. Othmann, who is far and away the Rangers top prospect and most NHL ready prospect, has been on a tear in Hartford. Othmann started slow with the Hartford Wolf Pack, but has turned it on of late and has a line of 9-14-23 in 28 games thus far.

Othmann’s slow start was somewhat expected given he’s not even legally able to buy a beer yet (Friday he turns 21). But since he got adjusted, he’s clearly been the Pack’s best scorer.

There are only two spots for Othmann to go: The top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, where the corpse of Blake Wheeler is playing and barely surviving, or the third line, replacing Jonny Brodzinski at 3RW. In terms of lineup changes, Tyler Pitlick is out for a few weeks, so no one needs to be waived, but hopefully Nick Bonino slides back to the 4th line where he belongs.

The fact of the matter is the Rangers were surviving without Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko due to their powerplay and overall team defense. The even strength offense had dried up outside of the Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere line, and hopefully Brennan Othmann will add another offensive element to a lineup that desperately needs it.