If there wasn’t enough bad news about the New York Rangers, everyone in the organization is holding their collective breath after the Ranger propect had to leave a game today after a high hit. It happened with only 19 seconds left in the second period when Ak Bars forward Patrice Cormier plastered Kravtsov with an illegal check.
There has been no news on the severity of the injury to Kravtsov and the hope is that it is not a concussion.
Cormier was given a game misconduct and a five minute major for a check to the head and neck area. You may remember Cormier from the NHL as he made his debut in 2010 with the Atlanta Thrashers and played parts of five seasons in Winnipeg. He has been in the KHL for the last three years.
Kravtsov was scoreless in 12:56 minutes of ice time in 14 shifts for Traktor. Ak Bars won the game 3-2.
The Rangers prospect is having an excellent season for Traktor with 15 goals and 22 points in 44 games. He’s been on a roll with goals in his last two games and six goals in his last 14 games. Here is the goal he scored in Traktor’s 2-1 win over Barys last week.
A friendly piece of advice: Just give that puck to Vitaly @Kravtsov. pic.twitter.com/I2azZhpo8h
— KHL (@khl_eng) January 26, 2021
If he misses any time as a result of the check, it will be his second injury of the season. He missed seven games in October with a lower body injury.
An injury would jeopardize his participation in the Beijer Hockey Games, an international tournament in Stockholm in mid-February. He was on the roster for Team Russia that was announced last Thursday.
Kravtsov was selected ninth overall in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. He signed his Entry Level Contract before last season and played last year in Hartford and Russia. He was loaned to Traktor by the Rangers for the KHL season when it began in September.
The expectation is that he will join the Rangers when the KHL season is over and when Traktor either misses or is eliminated from the playoffs.