Bob McKenzie was the first to report that Chris Kreider will miss about a month with a hand injury. Initial speculation is that it is a broken hand, but mysteriously the tweet has disappeared and no one has yet to confirm it, though a Rangers spokesman has said that Kreider will not be in the lineup Wednesday against the Flyers but no further info has been given.
If the injury and prognosis is true, and TSN has the story on their website, while Kreider hadn't been scoring, his speed and physical play has helped create room for Derek Stepan and Rick Nash, so it would be a big loss. New York could play both Dorsett and Carcillo but that would require a major reshuffling of the lines and adversely affect the offense. Instead, if the report is proven to be accurate, which given how accurate and reliable McKenzie is, unless his account was hacked, I expect it to be so, especially with Kreider definitely out against Philly (with Carp reporting that MSG showed Kreider shaking his hand in the second period), look for JT Miller to be called up.
New York could insert Miller on the top line, or instead, move Mats Zuccarello or Martin St. Louis to the top line and play Miller on the second line with Derick Brassard. AV should not break up the Hagelin-Richards-Pouliot trio that was so good yesterday, though I could see him mixing and matching to find three lines that click. Ryan Haggerty, who the Rangers signed about a week ago, is too green to be inserted in the lineup down the stretch and there are no options in Hartford better than Miller, as I don't view Kristo, Lindberg etc. as a notch below Miller.
Kreider showed when he was called up for the playoffs in 2011-12 that he can produce in key moments in key games, so his absence for even a few games, let alone a month, would be a major loss for the Rangers. The team withstood injuries earlier in the year, but struggled without Nash, and while Kreider isn't at that level, the first line would have a big piece missing with him not in the lineup. Martin St. Louis was acquired to provide scoring to complement Nash, and while St. Louis has struggled since coming to NY, continuing offensive woes that arose long before the deal, this is the time where the Rangers will end him to live up his salary. If St. Louis starts to score and Miller can be a solid addition to the top-nine, the Rangers can still continue on their playoff push and do some damage in the post-season.