Matt Rempe has quickly made a name for himself around the NHL after getting into three fights — and earning an additional match penalty — in his first five games with the Rangers.
His most recent came Sunday in Columbus against fellow enforcer Mathieu Olivier, which Rempe lost decisively, and the two heavyweights could have a rematch when the Blue Jackets visit Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
Rempe and fellow hulking rookie fourth-liner Adam Edstrom have teamed with Barclay Goodrow since their call-ups, as the Rangers extended their winning streak to a franchise record-tying 10 games before Sunday’s loss to lowly Columbus.
The two newcomers were recalled to add size — clearly — and toughness to the lineup.
For the most part, they have been successful.
As Braden Schneider told The Post’s Larry Brooks, “You watch those two play, they’re going all out, they’re playing simple and they’re playing hard.
“I definitely think that when you see Remps go out there on his first shift and blows someone up, it gets you going and makes everyone on the bench excited.”
And plenty of good teams around the league have an enforcer-type of player that could be effective at certain times during the postseason, even after potential trade-deadline additions.
And while Rempe has provided the physicality the Rangers were no doubt looking for, it has come at a price.
He has already collected the fifth-most penalty minutes on the team — 32 — which is more than his time actually on the ice so far.
It started with fighting the Islanders’ Matt Martin in his first shift in the NHL, during the Rangers’ Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium.
He received 17 minutes worth of penalties in just 13 seconds when Rempe got a match penalty against the Devils last Thursday after ramming Nathan Bastian.
The fisticuffs started quickly again for the 6-foot-8 ¹/₂, 241-pound Rempe when the Rangers faced the Flyers and he met up with Nicolas Deslauriers on Saturday before facing Olivier on Sunday.
That last pugilistic matchup did not go Rempe’s way and it’s still to be determined what role or roles Rempe and Edstrom can play.
For Rempe, it seems unrealistic to expect him to keep up his current pugilistic pace.
Asked after the Columbus game about the sustainability of Rempe’s willingness to fight, head coach Peter Laviolette said, “There’s conversations all the time. We don’t ever not have conversations about what’s going on. The players are out on the ice and things happen. He came back and gave us some good minutes. His line scored a goal, he went to the net and [Edstrom] popped one in. So he came back and contributed.”
The 6-foot-7, 234-pound Edstrom, 23, has a pair of goals in his eight games as a Ranger and the 21-year-old Rempe has a goal and an assist through his five NHL games.
Whether that kind of production combined with the toughness the pair provides is enough for them to be relied upon in the playoffs remains to be seen, but they have until the March 8 trade deadline to force the Rangers to decide.