Discussion of the Day: 9/16/23

Happy Saturday, and I hope today is the start of an amazing weekend for you all. Yesterday’s discussion centered on where Alexis Lafrenière should start the season after Chris Drury talked about how he’ll have an opportunity to play right wing in training camp. He said the same thing about Brennan Othmann.

Today’s discussion is similar, but instead is phrased differently. Instead of asking you where should Othmann start the season, I give you today’s prompt.

Where do you think Brennan Othmann will start the season?

This is intentionally opened ended and can include with the Rangers, with the Wolf Pack, the position he plays, and everything else that involves the two.

Simply stated, Othmann was too good for the OHL last year, and at times looked bored and approached games in a manner in which he simply didn’t want to get hurt because he knew was was next for him The 2021-22 season saw him post a line of 50-47-97 in 66 regular season games, and 9-15-24 in 19 playoff games.

This past season he finished with 29 goals, 38 assists, and 77 points in 56 games between the Flint Firebirds and Peterborough Petes in the regular season. In the playoffs with the Peets, Othmann posted a line of 8-17-25 in 23 games.

I think that regardless of his performance in camp, what is most important for Othmann is playing top line minutes. It will also be important to see how he adjusts to increase competition, and I’d like to see what type of production he has after a month of games. In recent years we’ve seen higher profile prospects flounder on the main club, and it was a disservice done to them.

One player that comes to mind in a positive way is Filip Chytil, and the time he spent in Hartford was beneficial to him, and helped him get to where he is today. I’d also prefer Othmann’s first professional experience to see him play his natural position, although it would be fine to experiment in Hartford and see how he does on his opposite wing.

With that said, if Othmann has a training camp and preseason in which he’s absolutely lighting it up and clearly outworking and handling the speed of the NHL game, it obviously makes sense to start him with the big club. But I don’t know how likely that is to happen.

Now I turn it over to you, and I hope you enjoy your weekend!