Rangers recall first-round pick Brennan Othmann from AHL Hartford

When they entertain the league’s hottest young star, 18-year-old Connor Bedard, in Thursday’s game against Chicago at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers will have a young, potential star of their own in the lineup. On Wednesday, the Blueshirts called up forward Brennan Othmann, their 2021 first-round pick, from AHL Hartford.

The callup is an early birthday present for Othmann, who turns 21 on Friday. The native of Scarborough, Ontario, is in his first professional season, and had played in all of Hartford’s 28 games. He has nine goals, 14 assists and 31 penalty minutes. He was the Wolf Pack’s third-leading scorer.

The move was made late Wednesday because of an apparent injury to forward Tyler Pitlick, who, according to a person with knowledge of the Rangers’ roster, is suffering from a lower-body injury that is expected to sideline him on a week-to-week basis. Pitlick, who had been playing on the fourth line, played in the Rangers’ 6-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, though he was limited to 6:58 of ice time, significantly less than his average of 10:05.

Pitlick’s injury opened the door for the Rangers to give the 6-foot, 186-pound Othmann his first taste of the NHL. He had played well in the preseason, scoring two goals. But the odds were always stacked against him making the opening night roster, given the number of veteran forwards the Rangers had brought to training camp.

However, Othmann made an early impression on coach Peter Laviolette, along with fellow rookie Will Cuylle. Laviolette praised both players after a strong showing against the Devils in the third preseason game.

“I thought that they were both pretty, pretty strong with their game,’’ Laviolette said that night. “I noticed them quite a bit. Othmann had good jump. He had some scoring chances.’’

At the end of the preseason, Cuylle ended up claiming the last spot on the roster and Othmann was sent down to Hartford the day after the final preseason game. After the game that night, Othmann reflected on his play during the preseason and said, “I don’t feel that out of place.’’

He scored two goals in his first game for Hartford and has had a strong season overall. His nine goals were seventh-most among AHL rookies and his 23 points were tied for sixth among rookies. But as a left wing, he hadn’t been a candidate for callup before now, even as the Rangers saw center Filip Chytil and right wing Kaapo Kakko go down with long-term injuries.

Where Othmann will play in the lineup is unknown. Pitlick is a right wing who played on the fourth line, so it is uncertain whether the Rangers would simply plug Othmann into his spot. Though Othmann said during training camp that he can play on the right side, he’s mostly been a left wing for Hartford.

If he does start out on the fourth line, it would probably make more sense for Laviolette to move Jimmy Vesey from left wing to right wing on that line, and have Othmann play on the left side. But since Laviolette likes to use his fourth line as a checking line, he may choose to drop Nick Bonino or Jonny Brodzinski to the fourth line, and play Othmann on the third line.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.