The New York Rangers shared lousy news on Tuesday: Ryan McDonagh is sidelined indefinitely, and he’s already ruled out of the team’s remaining regular season games.
McDonagh suffered what looked like a hand injury blocking a shot during Monday’s playoff-clinching win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. You can see how it happened in the video above.
The Rangers didn’t clarify, only deeming it an “upper-body injury.”
Ryan McDonagh will be sidelined indefinitely with an upper body injury. He will not dress in any of the 3 remaining regular season games.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 5, 2016
The New York Post’s Larry Brooks backs up the notion that it’s possibly a broken bone in McDonagh’s right hand and wonders if the key defenseman might also miss a playoff game or more.
While McDonagh’s 22:21 time-on-ice average is actually a little lower than the minutes he averaged during the past two seasons, he still leads the Rangers in that category. He’s a crucially important player to a team that’s already been stumbling toward the finish line of the regular season.
As of this moment, they’re set to face a red-hot Penguins team that could be an especially big nightmare to contain if McDonagh misses the beginning of that hypothetical series.
The Rangers already recalled Brady Skjei in McDonagh’s absence. The young blueliner seems like he’s getting a shot based on the injuries of others:
AV said Rangers would have called recalling right-handed Raphael Diaz to sub for McDonagh but Diaz is hurt.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) April 5, 2016