Shortly following the news that Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal fractured his leg, the New York Rangers were dealt a similar blow.
Rangers #1 center Derek Stepan fell near the red line as the team was going through a conditioning drill on Wednesday morning. He was clearly in pain and grabbing his left leg before he was helped off the ice by teammates. While Rangers fans were hoping for the best, the worst came to fruition.
Stepan has fractured fibula. No estimate on next step, recovery period. Not good news. #NYR
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) September 24, 2014
Stepan had been held out of Monday’s pre-season game against the Devils with what the Rangers called a “foot contusion”. During an informal skate earlier in the month Stepan took a shot to the same area where the break appears to have occurred, leading some to believe it had weakened the area.
Whatever the cause, the Rangers are now in a very difficult situation without their second-leading scorer from last season, who posted 57 points in 82 games. While New York is very strong on the wings, with the likes of Martin St. Louis, Rick Nash, and Mats Zuccarello, the roster is very thin at center, especially after buying-out Brad Richards this summer.
It’s likely that Derick Brassard will now have to take over top-line duties for the interim, while Matthew Lombardi and Dominic Moore will get bumped up as well for roles they are perhaps not quite suited for.
If Stepan is out for a significant amount of time, and a fracture seems to indicate that he will be, the Rangers will find their depth at center sorely tested, with J.T. Miller, Oscar Lindberg, and Kevin Hayes being the most likely candidates to fill in, though it’s possible that Chris Kreider could also slide over to the center ice position.
Whatever route they go to try to fill in the gaps, there really is no replacing a number one center, and Stepan’s injury is a big blow for the Rangers before the season even begins.
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