Ryan McDonagh out indefinitely with upper body injury
Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh will be out indefinitely after suffering an upper body injury.
The New York Rangers have clinched a playoff berth in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, but their seeding has yet to be determined. Dealing a blow to their chances of getting a coveted top six seed in the Eastern Conference, defenseman Ryan McDonagh is out indefinitely and will miss the rest of the regular season.
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
McDonagh is their captain and their top defenseman so this obviously hurts the Rangers moving forward. How long he will be out remains to be seen, but it’s not a good sign that the team has been vague while describing his injury. Losing McDonagh hurts the Rangers second line. The first pairing of Dan Girardi and Keith Yandle should be fine. A second pairing of Marc Staal and Kevin Klein could be an issue considering that Staal has recently been demoted to the third line due to his inferior play.
The Rangers could replace McDonagh with defenseman Brady Skjei, who has just been called up from the AHL. However, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault has been slow to trust young defensemen in the past, so it’s likely that Skjei will play a third pairing role. The sooner the Rangers can get Ryan McDonagh back, the better.
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