Though the New York Rangers had a day off before their trip out West, there was no lack of action.
While awaiting an update on the status of Marc Staal (hip flexor) and Kevin Hayes (leg contusion) during morning skate today, the Rangers dropped a bomb, announcing that Kevin Shattenkirk would undergo surgery for a torn meniscus on Monday.
Shattenkirk suffered the injury during the preseason but has played through the pain to this point in the season. A torn meniscus is an injury that is manageable and is feasible to play with.
Once he has surgery, there is an expected recovery time of a few months. Some are predicting that he could return before the start of the postseason — likely at some point in March. Shattenkirk is just the latest addition to a long list of Rangers core players who are out at the moment.
The aforementioned Staal and Hayes will be out against the Colorado Avalanche but are “50/50” for Sunday’s game against the L.A. Kings. Chris Kreider has been out for just under a month after a blood clot was discovered in his right arm.
In addition to these glaring injuries, others still seem to linger.
Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh has not seemed 100% since missing four games with a groin injury at the end of November. To bolster the argument that something may still be wrong, you can point to the one game that McDonagh missed last week with back spasms.
All of these aspects put the Rangers in a vulnerable position.
Related Story: New York Rangers’s lack of identity has crippled team
Necessary action
With key players out the Rangers had to make several roster moves to have enough players to field a lineup.
In the absence of Kreider, Vinni Lettieri entered into the lineup and has been a solid addition to the third line. Earlier this week, the Rangers also opted to move Boo Nieves back down to Hartford in favor of Peter Holland who made his first appearance — and registered his first point — on Tuesday.
Steve Kampfer was placed in the lineup to replace Staal. Staal, who has had a much better season this year than he did last year, makes Kampfer a step down in terms of talent– though Vigneault seems to think otherwise.
What is more interesting is what happened in the wake of the Shattenkirk news.
The Rangers re-called Tony DeAngelo and Daniel Catenacci. DeAngelo will get his first crack at the lineup with Shattenkirk out of the lineup indefinitely. Catenacci will be an extra forward for the Rangers while on the road.
In addition, Lias Andersson was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack. Andersson had an impressive performance in the World Juniors despite suffering a shoulder injury that he has been rehabbing since the championship ended.
Giving Andersson some time in the AHL will be great for his development. It will hopefully get him one step closer to making an appearance in the league.
Related Story: Alain Vigneault’s depth obsession hurts the team
What this all means
The Rangers were already struggling to create depth on the offensive end. The loss of players like Kreider and Shattenkirk (in the long-term) and Hayes and Staal (in the short term) doesn’t help this.
The hindrance that was the defense last season is an outright disaster this season. The Rangers biggest area of concern last year was the holes in their defense. This year, mismanagement and now these injuries have exacerbated the situation.
In hockey, it is impossible to not deal with injuries. Situations like this are extremely common in the league. However, the loss of these key players should change the approach the Rangers take to the rest of the season.
With the way Vigneault has made decisions this season and these injuries adding fuel to the fire, the rest of the 2017-18 season look murky.
Would it be better for the Rangers to change direction, cut their losses, and start to look ahead to next season?
The loss of Shattenkirk is the final straw. If the Rangers were contenders at all before, this injury pushes them into the “not contenders” category.
They have been winning games because Henrik Lundqvist has been the best player and keeps bailing his teammates out.
Related Story: The New York Rangers Should Target AHL Coach Sheldon Keefe
Final Thoughts
There is an outcry to show Vigneault the door at the end of this season. I think that if the Rangers miss the playoffs, this will become a reality.
If selling at the deadline was at all a question before, it shouldn’t be after today. The Rangers need to start to turn their attention towards fixing the holes they have on their roster for the long term. Focusing on a playoff run when it would take a lot of breaks is impractical.
With the remainder of this season, the team should start taking chances and giving young players a chance. This not only has the potential to jumpstart the roster, but it will give them a much better idea of what they have to work with in years to come.
Plus, with such a talented draft class coming at the end of 2018, it might not be the worst thing in the world to stop looking at the wins and losses this year and aim to land an early pick.
Next: How to maintain a playoff spot in the second half
The bottom line is that the team’s direction needs to change. There needs to be less pressure and focus on another postseason and a decision to start to look to the future.