The New York Rangers are one of the best teams in the NHL through the first quarter of the season. Right now, they are currently 15-4-1 for 31 standings points. They are currently tied with the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights for the top-point total in the league.
They have done that with some injuries to consequential players like Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox. Shesterkin has since come back but Jonathan Quick did an amazing job in his place. Now, they are a great duo heading into December.
The Rangers have also been without Adam Fox since he hurt himself on November 2nd. Now, it he is skating and could return to the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. That would be a huge boost to their lineup as well.
Being without your Vezina-caliber goaltender and Norris-caliber defenseman would make a lot of teams fall apart but the Rangers have done a great job staying afloat. Now, we’ll see how things go for them going forward.
The New York Rangers are going to be without Kaapo Kakko for a while
On Monday night, however, they were beaten badly by the Buffalo Sabres by a final score of 5-1. They lost more than the game, however, as Kaapo Kakko injured himself on a play along the boards. It looked like it might be a season-ending type of injury.
Kakko isn’t a consequential player like Fox or Shesterkin but he is still an NHL player that is in their lineup every night. Luckily, there is good news surrounding his injury. It sounds like he avoided the worst possible outcome as it isn’t a season-ending injury.
A bit more: Adam Fox expected to be activated from LTIR and play vs DET tomorrow. Filip Chytil & Kaapo Kakko headed to LTIR. Chytil is for cap reasons. Kakko hurt last night and will miss time. The good news is that he is expected to return this season. https://t.co/tagnCszdBS
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 28, 2023
Adam Fox is expected to be ready to come off LTIR and play tomorrow for #NYR vs. Detroit.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 28, 2023
Kakko and Filip Chytil (retroactive to Nov. 3) will be placed on LTIR as part of the roster maneuvering.
Kakko is expected to return this year which is good news for him as he tries to continue taking steps in his NHL career. For being a number two overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, the Rangers are still expecting to see more from him in the future. In 20 games this season, he has one goal and two assists for three points.
In addition to Kakko going on LTIR, Filip Chytil is going on as well. In the case of Chytil, it is retroactive to November 3rd when he was first injured. The New York Rangers are a really good team and they’d love to get two of their younger players back ASAP.
Alexis Lafreniere’s days of playing on a line with them are probably over as he has taken the next step but this team still needs those guys for depth. It will be interesting to see how their timeline unfolds.