It’s been impossible for Brennan Othmann to ignore the fact that he is still searching for his first point 14 games into his NHL career.
For a player who has never really had issues scoring, it’s naturally been in the back of his mind every now and then.
His Rangers teammates jokingly saying to him, “It’s a good night for your first,” ahead of certain games has also served as a steady reminder — even if it’s all in good fun.
Even though Othmann wasn’t able to notch that first point over an 11-game run in the Rangers lineup — which came to an end Tuesday night as he served as a healthy scratch against the Flames — the 22-year-old rookie is trying to focus on what’s really important.
“For me, I hold myself to a high standard and I’m just disappointed in myself that I haven’t been able to produce much,” Othmann said after doing his first bag skate with the Rangers extras since getting recalled on Feb. 24.
“At the end of the day, that’s not really what it’s about right now. It’s about just building Lavi’s trust, and building the coaching staff’s trust. Being in the lineup every day and trying to be in the lineup every day. Once that happens and once you kind of establish that you’re there every day, then you can worry about scoring and all that stuff. At this point, I just kind of want to worry about playing. Just getting around the net more, having more confidence with the puck. I think that’s just my biggest thing.
“What I want to be doing more is having the puck on my stick more and being more confident with it. I know when I have the puck, I make good plays with it and I find the open lanes and open guys and get the puck to the net. But I think just having the puck on my stick more and being a little more patient with it.”
After a three-game cameo last season, Othmann dressed for all six preseason games and was among the last round of cuts from training camp.
He then went down just three games into the AHL season with an upper-body injury that sidelined him until Christmas time.
Making his season debut against the Islanders on Feb. 25, Othmann has appeared on both the third and fourth lines, but has primarily skated on the latter.
Othmann is considered a top-six skater, but he has averaged 9:23 of ice time mostly next to Jonny Brodzinski and Matt Rempe on the fourth line.
“He’s done some good things for us, his line has done some good things,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “You go all the way back to the Islander game, I thought they had a real effective game offensively. There’s been some things that we look for more from him, that we show him and work with him, both on the offensive side of the puck and the defensive side of the puck.
“I wanted an opportunity to get a young player back in there in [Juuso] Pärssinen. It’s a chance for I think maybe Othmann to reset, reboot and wait for his next opportunity.”
Pärssinen draws back into the Rangers lineup after watching from the press box the last five games, slotting into the right-wing spot next to Sam Carrick and Chris Kreider.
That bumped Brett Berard down to Othmann’s usual post on the fourth unit alongside Brodzinski and Rempe.
There’s been a lot of movement in the bottom six of the Rangers lineup, but Othmann’s next chance could be just around the corner.
“I feel like I’m playing well,” Othmann said. “I feel like I’m transitioning my game pretty well from down in Hartford to here. I’m happy with it, I’m happy with the way I’m playing. Obviously, there’s areas in my whole game that I would like to improve always. Even when I’m a full-timer and consistently playing, I think there’s some things that I always want to get better at. We’re working on those things every day. I’m happy with the way I’m playing. I feel like all my details that I’ve mentioned over the last three years have kind of been spot on. There’s some things that I’d like to clean up.”
