Brennan Othmann, Alexis Lafreniere both will see time at right wing for Rangers
The Rangers' Brennan Othmann during rookie camp at the team's training center in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Thursday. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – On the first day of Rangers rookie camp on Wednesday, prized prospect Brennan Othmann, a natural left wing and the team’s first-round draft pick in 2021, talked at length to reporters, assuring them that, if the team asks, he absolutely will be able to switch sides and play on the right wing.
“I can play both,’’ Othmann said. “I know it says I'm a left winger on [my player bio] but I think that I can play the right wing as well.’’
The question of whether Othmann and Alexis Lafrenière might be asked by new coach Peter Laviolette to switch from left to right wing is one of the biggest Rangers talking points as veterans are set to report for training camp next week. With Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider locking down the top two left wing spots, moving to the right side might be the only way for Lafrenière, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, to play on one of the top two lines.
And if Lafrenière stays put as the third-line left wing, then it’s likely the only way Othmann has a chance to get onto one of the top three lines and make the opening night roster is if he moves to right wing.
General manager Chris Drury, who met with reporters Thursday, said it’s more than likely that both Othmann and Lafrenière will see some time on the right wing during training camp and the preseason.
“Obviously, the lineup card is Laviolette's,’’ Drury said. “I know Laf and Othmann … said they were comfortable on the right, so I'm anticipating in training camp they'll get every chance to play on the right and show what they can do.’’
The right wing question was one of a few topics Drury touched on in his pre-training camp remarks. The GM also talked about how, with the free agent additions made over the summer, he didn’t feel the need to bring any veteran players to camp on a tryout basis. And he talked about the need for the Rangers to play a grittier, more playoff-like style during the regular season, rather than trying to switch from more wide-open hockey in the regular season to a more physical, grinding game in the postseason.
“I've always felt, even back when I played, there's no switch that you could just flick, and, ‘Now it's a big game, now it's the playoffs, let's play this way,’ ’’ Drury said. “How you go about your business in training camp, the start of the season, middle of the season, end of the season, [has] to be where you create your identity … and if we're fortunate enough to get in the playoffs, you're ready to go and play a style that's needed with whoever you're playing against.’’
It's to that end, Drury said, that he made some of the signings he did over the summer, bringing in Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick -- the type of players, he said, who play “with jam.’’
“I think we do have a lot of pieces that can play like that, and we'll push our ‘skill’ guys to play like that as well,’’ he said.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
