New Jersey Devils prospect could teach Matt Rempe a thing about hitting safely

Matt Rempe has grown to have a reputation around the hits he makes, many of which can be described as "dangerous." He's been suspended on multiple occasions, including once for a hit that concussed Jonas Siegenthaler last season. It appears the last suspension, which knocked him out for eight games for elbowing, might have taught him something since he's been relatively out of trouble since then.

Every time he did get in trouble, we would hear the same excuses. "It's impossible to not hit someone in the head when you're that big," or "He's just hitting them where he is; that player shouldn't duck."

We understand that Matt Rempe is 6'8, one of the tallest hockey players in history. However, he's been that tall for a while, and he's always played hockey. He has to understand how to play the game as someone who is 6'8.

And if he needs advice, he may soon have someone just a stone's throw away. The Devils drafted Anton Silayev with the 10th overall pick in last year's NHL Draft. There were some other great defensemen available at the time, like Sam Dickinson and Zeev Buium, but Silayev was described as a "unicorn" by multiple analysts, including The Athletic's Scott Wheeler. He stands at 6'7 and skates as smooth as a 20-year veteran.

He's been playing well in the KHL, and the Devils appear to have a quality player in their prospect pool. Silayev can skate, facilitate, and play with size, but now it looks like he can hit, too. And those hits look safe while devastating.

Silayev did just about everything right on this play. The most important thing he did was take the right angle on the skater. He could have locked in for a direct hit, but he saw the player's numbers, and that would have been a boarding call. It's a pretty clear penalty when that happens. Instead, he skated slightly to his left, so when he turned he could hit him in the shoulder.

He also put his hands together, avoiding any possible cross-check call. These decisions are expected from hitters literally twice Silayev's age.

The Devils must love seeing him make hits like this, and they will get even better as he gains weight. You know what, the more we think about it, maybe Silayev should ignore all incoming calls coming from New York City. Let those players learn for themselves.