Matt Rempe marked his first goal of the 2024-25 NHL season in the most ‘Matt Rempe’ way possible. Just minutes after he gave the New York Rangers a 3-0 lead over the Ottawa Senators on January 21, Brady Tkachuk crashed into goalie Igor Shesterkin, prompting the latter to retaliate. Tkachuk barely had any time to breathe after one of the officials pulled Shesterkin away, when Rempe, ever the enforcer, decided to throw in a few punches of his own to avenge his goalie. For about half a minute, Tkachuk and Rempe stood in an awkward frame, the former’s hand on the latter’s collar, with a rather helpless-looking official sandwiched between them.

“Just want to make sure I get in there and nothing happens,” Rempe said later, via Mollie Walker of The New York Post. “A little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I love it. Just because he’s a competitor. It was awesome, Igor’s the man.” I am not sure if Shesterkin would feel betrayed, but both Rempe and Tkachuk seem to have put that brawl behind them as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Just hours ago, BarDown (via TT/zegrasbff) took to their X handle to share a clip of Brady Tkachuk, Matt Rempe, and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Trevor Zegras training together. Rempe and Zegras have been spotted together in offseason training before. In fact, last year, when the Rangers phenom travelled to Ben Prentiss’ training facility in Stamford upon Chris Kreider and Jonathan Quick’s invitation, Zegras, then playing for the Anaheim Ducks, was there, too.

So it was Tkachuk’s presence, really, that turned heads. However, the training clip only went on to show how well the Senators’ captain has recovered from his injury—something that he opened up about very recently.

Brady Tkachuk is 100% fit and ready to go

On July 14, Brady Tkachuk appeared on the Coming in Hot podcast, where he gave a hopeful health update. He’s fully recovered from the lower-body injury that plagued him since the 4 Nations Face-Off. As for what he had to do to get to 100%, he said, “I definitely went with a more conservative approach. I wouldn’t say I had anything major, just you know, just (needed) rest. And I think it took six weeks off from not doing anything. And then doing some little rehab exercises, but I really just tried letting rest do its job. And no, I feel great, actually.”

“I feel like I really turned the corner the last couple of weeks and feel back to 100%. I started skating on July 1st, and I’ve been feeling really good. So, I’m happy with the progress and where everything’s at,” added the 25-year-old left winger, explaining that the discomfort was in the general vicinity of the groin and hip flexor. 

So now, with recovery done and offseason preparations well underway, Tkachuk has no reason not to feel optimistic about improving upon last season when he made it to his first Stanley Cup playoffs. Let’s see if he can be a part of a Cup parade come next year, just like his brother, Matthew Tkachuk.