On November 21st when the New York Rangers claimed forward Matt Puempel off of waivers from the Ottawa Senators, they didn’t know what to expect from the young winger. Flash forward to the beginning of January, and Puempel has been an important addition to the team’s depth.
With the injuries to Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Rick Nash, Puempel has been finding himself with a fair amount of ice time each night, as well as time on the team’s second powerplay unit with Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey, Nick Holden and Brady Skjei.