New York Rangers roster hopeful could be suspended for hit vs. New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils lost to the New York Rangers 5-3, but the team came out of the game mostly unscathed. Arseny Gritsyuk looked good, and Nico Daws did not. Neither team played its NHL lineup, but there were some takeaways after the game. For the most part, the Devils could attribute the negatives to a rough Daws performance, but the rest of the game was pretty good.

The Devils got quite a few power-play minutes, including at the end of the game when things got increasingly chippy. There were multiple fights in the game, all fought by Devils’ prospect Nathan Legare. The Rangers also let the Devils go on the power play five times. 

The most impactful of those power plays was the five-minute major served by winger Brennan Othmann. It was after a very aggressive elbow to the head of defenseman Calen Addison. 

As anyone can see from the hit, Othmann comes to an unsuspecting Addison and hits him directly in the head. The head contact appears to be from the shoulder, but the chicken wing motion is why it was called an elbowing penalty. 

Addison is lucky that a Rangers player was riding him because it stopped him from falling on the back of his head after the hit. Addison was able to get right back up. That could save both Addison and Othmann.

Othmann was the 16th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. It’s been time for him to make an impact in the NHL, but he hasn’t scored a goal at the next level. He’s fighting for his career at this point, as the Rangers will likely move on with their organization if he can’t do something this year. 

This isn’t a good start. He could be suspended for the illegal and unnecessary hit at the end of a nothing game that was already in hand. In the 2023-24 season, then-prospect Arthur Kaliyev was suspended for four games for kneeing, two preseason and two regular season. If Othmann is suspended, it might just be for a preseason game. 

For most players, that’s not a big deal, but Othmann is trying to make the Rangers’ roster. This might hurt that under first-year head coach Mike Sullivan.