Rangers placing Adam Fox on injured reserve, no update on K’Andre Miller: report
The New York Rangers reportedly are placing Adam Fox on injured reserve after their star defenseman was hurt in a 5-1 win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. In a corresponding move, the Rangers recalled defenseman Matthew Robertson from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
That the Rangers only recalled one defenseman could be a good sign that K’Andre Miller will not miss any — or any significant — time after he, too, was injured in that game against the Islanders. Miller sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didn’t return.
Fox sustained an upper-body injury at 3:16 of the third period when he fell on his left shoulder after getting tangled with Islanders forward Kyle MacLean in front of the Rangers net. The 27-year-old appeared in significant pain as he immediately got up and exited the ice and headed directly to the dressing room.
Despite landing on IR, word is that Fox should be able to return for the final weeks of the season. That’s crucial because the Rangers are in a tight battle for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They are tied for ninth place with the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, and are two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card.
Fox is one of two or three indispensable players on the Rangers roster, along with goalie Igor Shesterkin and forward Artemi Panarin. The 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner as top NHL defenseman is third among NHL defensemen with 43 assists this season and tied for third with 48 points. Fox had an assist on Jonny Brodzinski’s second goal Tuesday, extending his point streak to seven games.
No Rangers player logs more time on ice than Fox, who averages 23:14 per game. He’s been a mainstay on the right side of their top defense pair for years and quarterbacks the top power-play unit.
The timing of his injury is brutal, in part because of their ongoing quest to secure a playoff berth and also since the NHL trade deadline is next Friday, March 7. The Rangers could be less inclined to trade pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren — Fox’s longtime partner — if Fox is out, so as to not further deplete the defense corps with the playoffs in sight.
Related: Rangers trade deadline strategy should be about near future, not Stanley Cup dream
Zac Jones expected to get increased Rangers responsibility due to injuries on blue line
Further complicating matters is Miller’s health status. If the 25-year-old is forced to miss any games, it’d be hard to fathom the Rangers dealing Lindgren, who it appears they have no plans to re-sign at the end of the season. Like Lindgren, Miller also plays on the left side. He’s second on the Rangers behind Fox, averaging 21:44 TOI.
It’s been a wildly inconsistent season for Miller, whose point total is down to 14 (four goals, 10 assists) just two seasons removed from a 43-point (nine goals, 34 assists) campaign. But he and Will Borgen formed a solid second defense pair after the latter was acquired from the Seattle Kraken in the Kaapo Kakko trade in December.
Zac Jones is expected to take on a much bigger responsibility with one — or both — out of the lineup. The 24-year-old is a left-shot defenseman with plenty of offensive skills, though he has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 28 games this season.
Jones began the season as a third-pair regular but has been the extra defenseman for two months since Urho Vaakanainen replaced him after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in the Jacob Trouba trade. The lack of playing time infuriated Jones to the point that he lashed out about it to reporters in early January.
“It’s tough. It’s really [expletive] tough,” Jones told reporters. “I mean, I’m just generally a pretty easygoing, happy person. And no matter what is going on in my life, I’m gonna try and come to the rink with a smile on my face . . . But it [expletive] sucks. Like, there’s nothing else I can say about it.”
Robertson was New York’s second-round pick (No. 49 overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft. This is his fourth season in professional hockey and he’s yet to play in an NHL game. He leads Hartford defensemen with 18 points (one goal, 17 assists) in 47 AHL games this season.
The 23-year-old is also a left-shot defenseman. It’s a bit surprising that veteran Chad Ruhwedel, a right-shot d-man with 369 games of NHL experience, wasn’t called up by the Rangers, especially with the right-handed-shooting Fox headed to IR.
More About:New York Rangers News
Read This Next
