Stephenson: Rangers must find way to man up without Adam Fox
The Rangers' Adam Fox is injured during the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
GREENBURGH
Next man up, right?
It’s what every team says when a top player goes down with a long-term injury. What else can the Rangers say now that they are going to have to play without their No. 1 defenseman, Adam Fox, until at least Christmas? And who knows if he’ll be out longer than that?
“It’s the next man up, and let’s be ready to play,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said Monday as the Rangers returned to practice after Sunday’s day off and tried to figure out how to rearrange their lineup to minimize the damage created by Fox’s upper-body injury.
“Injuries are part of the game,’’ Sullivan said. “Every team goes through it, and we’re no different. Obviously, Foxy is not an easy guy to replace for so many reasons. I’m sure I’m stating the obvious when I say that. But we’re gonna put a game plan together based on the people that we have and try to set our group up for success.’’
Here’s the problem with the “next man up’’ battle cry, though: The next man isn’t another Adam Fox.
Fox is the team’s co-leader in points with 26 (three goals, 23 assists), leads the team in ice time with an average of 23 minutes, 50 seconds per game and runs the point on the first power-play unit (his power-play goal and seven assists give him points on eight of the Rangers’ 13 power-play goals).
He and partner Vladislav Gavrikov lead the league in ice time at five-on-five as a defense pair, playing 449 minutes, 34 seconds together as the Rangers’ top pair. In that time, the Rangers have outscored opponents 16-11, outshot them 199-179, out-attempted them 481-375 and created more scoring chances (223-146), more high-danger chances (97-50) and more expected goals (21.67 to 14.54).
In plain English, the Rangers have been the better team whenever Fox and Gavrikov have been together on the ice.
But they won’t be on together again for a while.
Fox, who was crushed into the boards by Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel in the third period of Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning at Madison Square Garden, is on long-term injured reserve, meaning he’ll have to miss at least 10 games and at least 24 days. Someone — or likely more than one person — will need to pick up his responsibilities for the next month or so.
Judging by Monday’s practice, Braden Schneider will be partnering with Gavrikov on the top pair.
“I’m excited for the opportunity,’’ said Schneider, 24, a first-round draft pick in 2020. “I’ve done it last year, where I played those heavy minutes against top guys, and I think it’s something that I know I can do . . . And I think it’s going to be a challenge that I’ll have to take head on.’’
Fox’s role as the point man on the first power play will, for now, be assumed by Artemi Panarin, who co-leads the Rangers in scoring with 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists). That means the Rangers will be putting out a first power- play unit that features five forwards and no defensemen, which seems a risky proposition, especially against aggressive penalty-killing units looking to score shorthanded goals.
“We’re going to see how it plays out,’’ Sullivan said. “We’re going to start there. I mean, obviously we need to have some conscience in running the power play with five forwards.’’
The alternative to the five-forward power play would be to use Schneider — who’s been the point man on the second unit for most of the season but never played on the power play before this season — or rookie Scott Morrow, who’s played 18 career NHL games, on the point.
Clearly, there isn’t an obvious “next man up’’ who can replace Fox. The giant hole created by his absence will have to be filled “by committee,’’ as Sullivan said.
The Rangers struggled badly when top-six forward Vincent Trocheck missed 14 games with an upper-body injury early in the season. Losing Fox seems like an even bigger problem.
Notes & quotes: Fourth-line LW Adam Edstrom left practice early and was being evaluated for a lower-body injury, Sullivan said. Forward Brennan Othmann was recalled from AHL Hartford . . . Fourth-line RW Taylor Raddysh (personal reasons) did not practice . . . G Jonathan Quick, who is on IR with a lower-body injury, took part in practice, splitting time with third goalie Spencer Martin.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
