Matt Rempe officially has been sent down to AHL Hartford again, clearing the way for the Rangers to activate veteran winger Jimmy Vesey before Sunday’s game against the Islanders at the Garden.
Vesey has been on long-term injured reserve for the first 10 games of the season with a lower-body injury, but he skated on the fourth line in Saturday’s practice with Adam Edstrom and Sam Carrick.
“He’s been practicing hard, and we’ll make those decisions,” Peter Laviolette said of Vesey. “We just finished practice, but it’s great to have him full-go. Every day he’s looked better and better. He’s a guy who plays hard and has skill and plays physical, plays penalty kill, and means a lot to the team.”
Rempe gained folk-hero status last spring at the Garden with a series of fights and 71 penalty minutes in 17 appearances, but the 6-foot-9 winger has appeared in only three of 10 games this season for the Blueshirts, including a healthy scratch in Friday’s win over the Senators.
He also went down to Hartford last weekend to play in two games for the Wolf Pack.
The 31-year-old Vesey, who also suffered an upper-body injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Panthers last spring, has been practicing with the Rangers without restriction for the past week.
Based on the jumbled lines in Saturday’s practice, Vesey could replace winger Jonny Brodzinski in the lineup against the Islanders.
Asked if he expects the eight-year veteran to play Sunday, Laviolette added: “We’re working through that right now, just coming off from practice.
We’ve still got decisions to make, where we go with lines and where we go with players who are available.”
Sunday’s game marks the first of four meetings against the Islanders, who announced Saturday that forward Mat Barzal and defenseman Adam Pelech both are expected to be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks.
