Andrew Gross@AGrossRecord · 10m Derek Stepan hard to the ice during conditioning test, helped off clutching left knee/leg. Audibly and visibly in pain. 1st day back after missing a week from blocking a shot with his foot
Pat Leonard@PLeonardNYDN · 2h Vigneault says he's expecting to hear 4-6 weeks on Stepan but team will know for sure later this afternoon Andrew Gross@AGrossRecord · 2h AV says moving Dominic Moore up to fill a top two center spot is definitely under consideration. "We've got a lot to sort out," AV said.
While I am by no means finding any joy in an injury, is this really a downgrade at the center position?
Rangers Report@rangersreport · 2h CORRECTION: Because there was some confusion in the info, Stepan's original injury (suffered pre-camp) was NOT to his foot but to his fibula
Forward line combinations, defense pairings, and goalies that will fill out Friday's lineup vs BlackHawks: Duclair-Brassard-Nash C. Bourque-Miller-Zuccarello Tarnasky-D. Moore-Haggerty Hrivik-Lindberg-Stempniak McDonagh-McIlrath J. Moore-Girardi Allen-Klein Lundqvist Desjardins
I know you aren't a fan of Miller, but I can't see how he doesn't make the team at this point. He played very well in the first preseason game, and it was thought that he had the leg up for the one open spot when training camp opened. Brass, Miller and Moore have pretty safe spots on the roster to start the season. Hayes, Lindberg, Lombardi and Mueller battling for the last spot at center. I think Lombardi is the ideal 13th forward, so I think its just Hayes and Lindberg battling for that spot. Don't really see Mueller as much of a threat to those guys, although AV did mention him as a possibility. It would be really nice to see Duclair have a great preseason and force his way onto the team. I'm also hoping that Tanner Glass doesn't make the team, although his contract is a huge nightmare. This is what I'd call ideal to start the season Kreider-Brass-Zucc Nash-Miller-MSL Hagelin-Hayes-Duclair Malone-Moore-Stempniak Lombardi
Are the Rangers doctors that bad or was this just a freak thing? He had an x-ray a few hours before the injury, and they said everything looked good. If it was the case of making an injury worse to the point where his fibula eventually broke, then I don't know how they said everything was fine with the x-ray.
