New York Rangers: What does Brett Howden’s injury mean for the lineup?

Rookie forward Brett Howden suffered a knee injury in Tuesday’s game with the Philadelphia Flyers. Head Coach David Quinn announced that Howden would have an MRI and was expected to be out “a while.”

The first 48 games of Brett Howden’s NHL career were reflective of the New York Rangers’ as a whole. Some nice highlight reel goals, some dreadful valleys of no points for weeks at a time and of course, some perfectly average hockey from a 20-year-old in his first full NHL season. The rookie wall usually sets in around game 30 because of the sheer grind.

Howden’s production hit a clear wall in December, right around game 30. The forward went more than two weeks without finding his way onto the score sheet. Yet, the former Moose Jaw Warrior did not come out of the lineup because he was putting in a maximum effort. In Quinn’s mindset, if a player is trying their best, eventually the production will come.

However, Howden suffering a knee injury early on in Tuesday’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers created a vacancy in the lineup. On Wednesday afternoon, the Rangers gave forward Jesper Fast a maintenance day, which forced defenseman Tony DeAngelo into a wing spot, at least temporarily.

The assumption for Thursday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils is that Fast will play and there is still an outside chance that Mats Zuccarello returns to the lineup as well. But, without Howden for the long term, this does create a lineup spot for someone to make an impact. With Quinn behind the bench, there is an opportunity for a young player sitting there to be taken.

The caveat

As the unfolding Pavel Buchnevich and David Quinn situation illustrates, there are no handouts with the Rangers. If a player wants to play a significant role with the team, they’re going to have to start at the bottom of the lineup and work their way up the pecking order. Filip Chytil is the test case as to the positive end of the spectrum when it comes to this practice.

However, Buchnevich’s inability to move up the lineup because of his failure to meet the coaching staff’s expectations should serve as a warning to a potential call-up or filler. The most obvious call up would be center Lias Andersson down in Hartford who’s waiting for a chance to finally make a breakthrough at the NHL level.

Yet, as Andersson’s 21 game stint earlier this season proved, he, like Buchnevich, was not doing everything that was asked of him. There needs to be a complete dedication to the system and fulfilling all responsibilities to uphold its integrity.

The discussion at hand

Ultimately, a series of roster moves will accompany the trade deadline in four weeks. But, it would be a good business to start making preparations now so that things don’t come down to the wire. This would include getting a timetable for Howden’s injury and figuring out the type of replacement necessary.

As of now, it looks that Zuccarello will be ready shortly to slide into the vacancy soon. This, of course, does leave the lineup with forward Cody McLeod on the fourth line and something that is less than ideal. But, given Quinn’s parameters for playing time, McLeod is the rightful lineup choice.

Without a Howden timetable in mind, it comes down to a pair of choices. Either the team rolls with Zuccarello and Nieves in the lineup in the interim or it calls up Andersson. Both choices are moot in the sense that come to the trade deadline it won’t matter much. With both Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes likely out the door, Hartford call-ups are a lock.

No matter what, it’s disappointing to see Howden suffer an injury. His production was taking a serious dip but he’s missing out on the valuable opportunity of ice time during a rebuilding year.