When Ryan Reaves signed with the Rangers 2 ¹/₂ years ago, the veteran face-puncher memorably declared that he wasn’t there because of Tom Wilson, the infamous Capitals agitator who beat up on the club at the end of the previous season and partially influenced the subsequent front-office turnover.
The reason he was there, Reaves said, was because of what players like Wilson bring to his team.
That philosophy evidently still rings true throughout the halls of the MSG Training Center, where the Blueshirts conducted their first practice of the postseason and Matt Rempe — the organizationally grown rookie enforcer — took reps as if he were slated to play in Game 1 of the first-round series against Wilson and the Capitals on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
“When I was younger, I think there’s this montage of him on YouTube just blowing guys up,” Rempe said of Wilson, who the 6-foot-8 ½ forward gushed over with genuine respect and admiration. “I used to watch that sometimes when I was younger, it got me fired up. I know he’s a really good competitor.”
The rest of the Rangers from that 2021-22 team may not share the same sentiment on Wilson, whose blend of snarl and skill will make him a unique challenge in this series.
But in no way are the 2024 Rangers thinking of that May 3, 2021, incident, when Wilson dangerously pushed his stick down on ex-Blueshirt Pavel Buchnevich’s neck and then manhandled a helmet-less Artemi Panarin to the ice.
This is a series, however, that should represent just how far the Rangers have come since.
There’s going to be an uptick in intensity in the playoffs no matter what, but the Capitals were once a team that overwhelmed the Rangers physically.
What Washington lacks in speed, it can make up for with a heavy style of play.
The Rangers haven’t gotten pushed around this season.
In fact, they have done the pushing around at times.
“[Captain Jacob Trouba], specifically, and our leadership group have done a great job of instilling that unity and sacrifice,” K’Andre Miller told The Post. “That’s just kind of been the daily routine here. I think showing up and doing whatever you can for the guy next to you obviously means a lot. When it’s coming from the top, and your captain, it often has a trickle effect and other guys want to hop on that train.”
Throughout his enthralling first 17 games in the NHL — over which he fought five times, was ejected three times and assessed a four-game suspension — Rempe’s bullish presence has been contagious.
The Rangers are now not only more cognizant of the physical balance within a game, but Rempe has created a dynamic that allows the team to dish it out themselves.
Even though head coach Peter Laviolette won’t divulge his lineup for Game 1, Rempe said he feels ready for playoff hockey.
Having grown up watching the postseason like every other hockey player, the 21-year-old believes he knows what to expect. Everything is heightened, he said, noting the speed and physicality in particular.
The Rangers have come a long way since they set out to become a harder team to play against around four years ago.
Rempe was a byproduct of that initiative, and now it’ll be measured as it pertains to the Capitals, the team that inspired it.
“Every game he’s been with us here this year, he’s been a huge impact,” Erik Gustafsson, who played for the Caps just last season, said of Rempe. “How he plays, just being on the bench, he’s always talking on the bench and stuff like that. Always standing up for us. It’s fun to see how he came into the league now.
“Obviously, it’s going to be fun to see him in the playoffs, too, I think he’s going to go out there and do the same thing.”