While the Rangers continue to struggle with scoring goals, Elliotte Friedman speculated on a Brennan Othmann trade rumor, that he was drawing significant interest early in the season. It’s not really a surprise to see Othmann’s name pop up in rumors, but to see it happen in October is a little sooner than many expected. Chris Drury’s first pick as Rangers GM and the 16th overall pick in 2021, Othmann failed to break camp with the Rangers and now faces questions about his future in New York. As per usual, I have thoughts on these Brennan Othmann trade rumors.
1. It’s not that Othmann failed to make the Rangers, it’s that he had a very poor preseason and camp and was one of the first notable prospects cut from training camp. In early preseason games–mostly against other AHL competition–Othmann didn’t necessarily look lost, but he just wasn’t effective at all. His one goal, on an absolute snipe, was on the powerplay. He struggled at even strength and was routinely smothered once he had the puck. He simply didn’t have enough time or space to get his shot off, and he wasn’t able to generate any of that time or space.
2. These struggles aren’t really new for Othmann at the NHL level. In 25 NHL games he has zero goals and just two assists, while in the AHL he scores at a 0.75 points per game pace, though a large chunk comes on the powerplay. It’s easy to read that as a problem, being a powerplay merchant, but that’s not entirely accurate. He produces at 5v5 in the AHL, he is also exceptional at that level on the powerplay.
The concern with Othmann is at the NHL level, where time and space are further limited, he hasn’t adjusted to the faster pace and thus becomes more of a liability without other skill sets to complement his shot.
3. But, and this is a big one, the stats don’t necessarily support that argument.
Othmann was one of the only Rangers forwards last year that was a net-positive in terms of puck possession. Small sample size matters here, as it was only 214 minutes, but it’s certainly worth noting he wasn’t a powerplay merchant at the NHL level. He drove offensive play, both in quality and quantity, and was at least break-even defensively at even strength. We can ignore his 5 minutes of powerplay time. That’s noise.
4. Othmann’s skill set is similar to that of Will Cuylle, just with a better shot. He’s a blue collar guy that is more than willing to go to corners and the front of the net. It seems like a skill set the Rangers could use right now – a guy with a nose for the net and a lethal shot. If it weren’t for his horrendous preseason, we may not be hearing any Brennan Othmann trade rumors, at least not yet.
So what’s fueling this Brennan Othmann trade rumor?
5. Unfortunately for the 22 year old winger, 23 in January, time is no longer on his side. The Rangers have, in no particular order, Cuylle, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis Lafreniere as established top-nine wingers in the NHL. Both Conor Sheary and Taylor Raddysh had better preseasons, rounding out the top-nine.
Brett Berard and Gabe Perreault had better preseasons, both are in the NHL and presumably ahead of Othmann for a recall.
Since he is not a fourth liner, the Brennan Othmann trade rumors started almost as soon as he was reassigned to Hartford to start the season. He’s now third on the depth chart among prospects and would need to beat out both of them in the event of an injury.
6. None of that accounts for Noah Laba and Juuso Parssinen, who are both ahead of Othmann on the depth chart but are also both centers. Since they are centers, it’s easier to explain away. But centers play wing, and we saw Parssinen look pretty good at wing the other night in Toronto. It’s just another hurdle fueling the Brennan Othmann trade rumors.
So what’s next?
7. I wouldn’t expect the Rangers to rush to move Othmann soon. If the right deal comes along, so be it. So we may be hearing Brennan Othmann trade rumors for quite some time. It’s just part of how this works. For all we know, another top-six forward for the Rangers gets hurt and they have no choice but to call up Othmann to see what he has in NHL games.
Remember it’s still October. Trades do happen, but for the most part teams are still evaluating what they have, what they need, and what’s out there.
8. My prediction? Eventually I think Othmann is packaged for Mario Ferraro. A wilder scenario could be some kind of Panarin/Othmann package for Jason Robertson if that contract situation doesn’t play out in Dallas’ favor. But we’ve seen how the big names have all fallen off the board, so I doubt that actually becomes a real rumor. That’s just me having some fun.
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