As if losing Derek Stepan wasn’t going to be hard enough, the New York Rangers will also be without defenseman Kevin Klein for the next little while.
Klein has a “strained oblique,” the club announced today. The 30-year-old suffered the injury early in yesterday’s 4-3 win over Carolina. He’ll be out 2-3 weeks.
Klein, a right shot, has spent time paired with Marc Staal, Keith Yandle and Ryan McDonagh this season. The way Dan Girardi and Dan Boyle have struggled (see: here and here) on the right side, you could make the argument that Klein was the last defenseman they could afford to lose. (You may not win the argument, but you could sure make it.)
With Klein out, Dylan McIlrath will get back into the lineup tomorrow in Brooklyn.
Currently, the Rangers have just six healthy defenseman on their roster.
AV says that no call ups are expected right now with Stepan and Klein out, but perhaps there might be moves b4 Western Canada trip next week
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 1, 2015