He's intimidating because he injured players with illegal hits several times in only a few dozen games. Unless he learns how to fight better, and if he starts throwing hits properly, he won't keep that same intimidation factor. A punch in the face isn't a deterrent for a player who won't drop the gloves. And against those willing to fight him and stand up for their teammates, he's not the threat he could or should be. And sadly, one hit with his elbow too high is all it's going to take to get suspended 15-20 games.
Rempe plays a few games cleanly, scores a nice goal, sets up a goal with a nice pass, it's not time for victory laps. I'm not anti-Rempe, but let's not set the bar that low, that he makes a few hockey plays, like, you know, a hockey player, and now he's a sure thing. Don't get me wrong, love to see it. But he's a raw player still refining his game, getting physically stronger, and learning how to play. His presence usually does improve the team, that's not much of a debate anymore, but he's still got a lot of room to improve himself. Once he can make certain aspects of his game more consistent, put it all together, that's something special and worth celebrating. It might happen, it hasn't happenened yet.
I love the simplicity of how Carrick, Edstrom and Rempe play in the offensive zone. They're using their tools well, and I don't see any reason why it's not going to keep getting good results.