The Rangers have done this the right way.
They did not rush Brennan Othmann into the NHL following his first-round, 16th-overall selection in the 2021 entry draft even when the lad thoroughly impressed in training camp. They never hyped him as a savior. They never used his likeness to herald a youth movement.
Instead, the Blueshirts allowed him to grow at an appropriate pace and in appropriate places.
He played for Team Canada in the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Championships, winning gold in the latter tournament. He went to the semifinals of the Memorial Cup after his Peterborough team took the OHL crown last year.
He then started this first pro season by serving an apprenticeship in Hartford.
Until Thursday, when Othmann makes his NHL debut at the Garden against the Blackhawks and Team Canada teammate Connor Bedard following his recall from the Wolf Pack in the wake of Tyler Pitlick’s lower-body injury that will sideline No. 71 for an indefinite period of time.
And even with this promotion, the Rangers aren’t asking or expecting him to carry the load. They want him to have some fun out there.
“Talking to the coaches, they told me to have fun and enjoy the moment,” Othmann said following the morning skate. “They said that I’ve earned it, so I should just enjoy the moment now, take it day by day and just enjoy my time.”
Othmann, who will celebrate his 21st birthday on Friday, recorded nine goals and 14 assists in 28 games for the Wolf Pack.
The numbers are somewhat reflective of his play but the winger was far more focused on mastering details of the pro game than obsessing over his numbers. He left that behind in junior hockey.
“When you’re playing junior hockey you’re the go-to guy that everyone relies on and you don’t really focus too much on the stick detail or flying the zone or any of that stuff,” said Othmann, who scored 50 two years ago for OHL Flint. “You’re more worried about, ‘Oh, I want to score.’
“You’re young and at that stage in your life when you think about it, ‘It’s points, points, points, that’s what’s going to get me drafted.’”
Othmann’s offensive production was a calling card for a first-round selection in the draft but there is far more than that to making it to — and in — the NHL.
There is the 200-foot game and there are all the details that make up a solid 200-foot NHL player.
He has not only been aware of that, he has tried to soak up as much information as possible.
“When I talked to Brennan he made the point to say he was coached up every day, video, and was learning,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “If you’re willing to accept and learn from what you do on the ice you can really take that information and improve your game.
“That’s the process that’s been happening. We’re in need of a player and it seems like the right time and the right fit.”
Othmann scored two goals for the Wolf Pack in his first pro game.
He then went the next 14 without scoring. A burst of seven goals in six games followed.
But now he is back on a nine-game AHL drought. That’s life as a pro.
“I knew it was going to be a hard league, it’s one of the hardest leagues in the world to play in,” said Othmann, whose parents, Gery and Paige, “ecstatic and a bit emotional,” will be at the Garden for his debut. “Everybody’s fighting for basically a job up here. I was lucky enough to get the first goal out of the way and take some pressure off myself.
“I think my pro game has gotten better detail-wise, I do video every week of the previous games and I watch a lot of clips of myself to see what I’m doing wrong and what I’m doing right and try to learn from that. I think I’m progressing really well so I’m just really happy to be up here and showing that the hard work in Hartford and the previous years have paid off.”
Othmann will open on a line with Nick Bonino in the middle and Jonny Brodzinski on the right with Laviolette creating a Will Cuylle-Barclay Goodrow-Jimmy Vesey unit while leaving the top-six intact.
Othmann called Brodzinski, with whom he’d been a linemate in Hartford prior to No. 22’s Nov. 28 recall, “a mentor.”
“I think it’s a good fit. Nick is a real smart centerman and a real good player, a heady player easy to talk to,” said Laviolette. “I think Jonny is the same way, [plus] having some comfort there.
“It seemed like the right place and the right time to put him into that spot and we’ll see how he does tonight, see how the game goes.”