New York Rangers: Update on the injured and where they fit in

The New York Rangers have three players on injured reserve and have varying timetables for return.

The unfortunate reality of the National Hockey League is that injuries will rear their ugly head over and over again. The best teams in the league often are simply the ones that are the most healthy come the stretch run and the postseason. Last year, the injury bug ravaged the Rangers so badly it compelled the front office to begin the process of rebuilding.

Losing Chris Kreider and Kevin Shattenkirk from December on crippled what was a floundering team, to begin with. Without those two key contributors, the Rangers free fell right out of the playoff hunt.

As for this year’s iteration of the Rangers, three players are currently dinged up. Two of the injuries, Matt Beleskey and Boo Nieves stem back to incidents that occurred during the preseason. The third, Frederik Claesson’s occurred last week during regular season action.

Boo Nieves

To start, Nieves was injured in the second preseason game against the New Jersey Devils when Eric Gryba’s helmet caught him awkwardly on the side of the head. The Syracuse native suffered a concussion and only began skating in the past week or so. Nieves was a non-contact participant in practice on Monday prior to the game against the Florida Panthers.

The timetable for his return is still up in the air due to the unpredictable nature of concussions. When it comes to traumatic brain injuries, there is no such thing as being too safe. The forward should take as much time as he needs to before suiting up again.

As to where Nieves fits in the lineup is befuddling. Initialling considered a shoe-in for the fourth line center job, that’s not a straightforward possibility. Although Brett Howden played well enough to earn a promotion up the lineup, Vinni Lettieri is firmly ensconced in the role and in Nieves’ way.

Ultimately, the front office and coaching staff will need to make a determination as to whether it should be Lettieri or Nieves who stays at the NHL level for now. Both have legitimate arguments as to why they should stay. The Minnesota native had a stellar preseason, the upstate New York native has the track record at the NHL level.

Either way, it isn’t a decision of terrible consequence, but it is something that needs to be decided. Expect Nieves to be ready within the next week or so and the verdict to come down in that same window.

Bad choice fella

In addition to giving Nieves a concussion, Gryba also injured Beleskey during the preseason. The former Bruin suffered a shoulder injury during a fight with the Devil. However, unlike Nieves, Beleskey was a full participant in the aforementioned Monday practice and is on a much shorter timetable.

There isn’t much of a decision to be made when it comes to where Beleskey fits. The obvious choice would be waiving Cody McLeod and sending him to the AHL to fit the Windsor, Ontario native into the lineup. In addition to playing a sandpaper style of hockey, Beleskey also can play a little hockey.

No one is ever going to mistake Beleskey for an elite player, but he isn’t a total liability when he isn’t punching players in the face. McLeod being in the lineup is essentially dressing 11 forwards because of how little he can contribute to the game, especially in the offensive zone.

It’s hard to think that if it were Beleskey and not McLeod in the lineup against the Calgary Flames, one of his four first period shots would have been a goal. There’s a good chance that Beleskey makes his regular season debut with the Rangers some point during this west coast trip.

Freddy’s ribs

The most recent addition to IR, Claesson, is looking at a multi-week timetable. The defenseman who has played well in limited action this season for the Rangers suffered an upper-body injury and was placed on IR retroactively to October 17.  Head Coach David Quinn guessed on Monday that the defenseman’s time for return would be somewhere between two and three weeks.

It’s a real shame that Claesson got hurt when he did is that he was playing so well. The defenseman’s versatility in being able to play the offside, meaning the right for a left-handed player, enables greater flexibility in lineup composition. The Rangers’ defense being as patchwork as it is means that the team will take whatever it can get.

Hopefully, this injury isn’t too serious and the Swede can stay in the neighborhood of the two or three week timetable. Getting him back in the lineup gives a greater balance to the unit as a whole.

There isn’t much of an argument for keeping one of the alternatives, Tony DeAngelo or Adam McQuaid in over Claesson. There is an inherent value in developing DeAngelo, but the team can only afford to give him so many chances.

Going forward, the Rangers need to hope that the team can stay healthy to not totally be the worst group in the entire league.