Brennan Othmann practices with Rangers during 4 Nations Face-Off break; does he have a future with the team?

GREENBURGH – With their roster missing six players because of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the Rangers summoned four players from their Hartford farm team to help them out at practice on Wednesday.

Brennan Othmann, their first-round pick in the 2021 draft, was one of them, along with Brett Berard, Jake Leschyshyn and defenseman Matthew Robertson. The four weren’t officially called up to the Rangers’ roster, but were allowed to practice with the team as non-roster players during the 4 Nations break.

Still, for Othmann, who turned 22 last month, being able to practice with the big club, with the coaching staff able to get their eyes on him, was a good thing.

“I mean, every time you can be here in the (MSG) Training Center, throw on an NHL jersey — let alone the Ranger jersey — is special,’’ he said. “If it’s for practice for the next few days, it is what it is. I still get to practice with these guys, and get up to the pace that they play at. And it’s the first time (the coaches are) seeing me since I was hurt, and since training camp, really.’’

This could be an important look for Othmann, who missed 10 weeks with an injury suffered in Hartford’s third game of the season. While he was out, Chris Kreider missed some time with a back injury and the Rangers needed to call up a winger for a few games. They called up Berard, who impressed plenty of people in a 19-game stint before he was sent back in mid-January.

And now Othmann could be in danger of being passed by Berard, or 2023 first-round pick Gabe Perreault, who’s tearing it up at Boston College, on the prospect pecking order. Othmann has been to every one of the team’s summer development camps and fall training camps since he was drafted, but in his second full season of pro hockey with Hartford, he hasn’t been able to force his way onto the roster, the way Will Cuylle did last year.

For a while, there was a logjam in front of Othmann at the wing position on the Rangers’ roster, with Artemi Panarin, Kreider and now Cuylle on the left side, and Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko on the right. Kakko was traded in December, but now there’s another winger, Arthur Kaliyev, who was claimed off waivers from the L.A. Kings, in the mix, too.

Othmann has 12 goals and seven assists in 25 games for the Wolf Pack, including four goals and an assist in his last three games, and that will certainly get him some attention from the Rangers’ hierarchy.

“It’s good that he’s back, and that he’s healthy, and that now he’s contributing and scoring goals,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said. “All of that are good signs and good steps for him to continue off of that. At some point, there’s a chance that we may need somebody, and we’ll take a player that’s playing well at that time. And that could be him.’’

But it’s also possible Othmann, if he continues to play well at Hartford, could end up being a trade chip as the Rangers seek to bolster their roster at the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline. As GM Chris Drury looks for pieces to help his team with the playoff push, he’s got a few young forward prospects to offer up in exchange, Othmann being one of them.