Kevin Klein, who has been the Rangers most consistent defenseman the last two years, will miss 2-3 with an oblique injury. Klein, who reportedly felt tightness in the area Monday morning and was worked on by the trainers, exacerbated whatever the issue was during the game, which forced him out 6:31 into the contest. If there is a silver lining, Klein pulled himself out of the game when he felt pain in the area which might have prevented a more serious injury. He is expected to miss 2-3 weeks, and to me, that's a best case scenario as oblique injuries have a tendency to linger.
In Klein's absence, Dylan McIlrath, who was scratched yesterday for Dan Boyle, should be a regular participant. McIlrath, who brings a physical presence sorely lacking on the team is likely to be paired with Keith Yandle. In my blog Sunday, I had proposed pairing the two, as I felt it would allow Yandle to use his skating and puck carrying strengths with McIlrath back to be that stay at home d-man.
In addition, this means that Dan Girardi, who moved back to the top pairing when Klein was injured during the game, will once again play with Ryan McDonagh. Girardi ended up receiving 40 shifts covering 27:43 of ice time Monday. He has struggled much of the season, so if the Rangers are to weather Klein's absence, G will need to rediscover his game and quickly. If not, the defensive zone woes that have plagued NY much of the season will only get worse and more apparent.
Marc Staal, who like G has struggled and quite possibly should have been a press box resident, skates with Boyle. That pairing now becomes the second unit, adding pressure to a duo that has had issues this season. Boyle actually hasn't been a bad as most of the Rangers believe, so this is a chance for him to change the narrative.
With Derek Stepan out 4-6 weeks and Klein sidelined, there are two major openings. For now, coach Alain Vigneault said the Rangers would stick with the six healthy defensemen and 12 healthy forwards. However, it's likely an extra forward and an extra defenseman gets called up prior to the team departing for Western Canada next week where they face Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.
In order to add those players, if necessary, Stepan could be placed on long-term injured reserve to create salary-cap relief. Up front, Jayson Megna, who was called up yesterday and sent down today, is a potential add, as is Brian Gibbons or Adam Tambellini. On the blue line, an interesting add would be Brady Skjei, even though he likely wouldn't see much game action. The benefit of doing so is that Skjei would receive some practice time with the team and also be up close to what game action in the NHL looks like as a prep for the futureZ other options include Chris Summers (likely), Raphael Diaz (injured and would need waivers to go back down) and Mat Bodie.