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Blais diagnosed with torn ACL, will miss rest of the season

November 16, 2021, 10:26 AM ET [365 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Sammy Blais, injured on at best a questionable hit by PK Subban, suffered a torn right ACL. He is scheduled to undergo surgery in the near term and miss the remainder of the season. Losing Blais costs the Rangers a versatile winger, who can slide up and down the lineup and provided the team a physical presence on wing.

Acquired this offseason along with a second rounder for Pavel Buchnevich, Blais was making $1.5 million this year and is an RFA next season. He was still looking for his first goal as a Rangers but fit in seamlessly on the third line and had moved up to the top trio recently. Blais was gaining confidence and looked reading to take that next step in his game when he was injured.

On the injury. The play looked awfully similar to the one with Ryan Reaves and PK Subban, when Subban slew foot Reaves. Watching the replay, hard not to come to the same conclusion, especially given Subban's history. But the NHL Department of Player Safety, an oxymoronic name if there ever was one, did nothing. No phone hearing or conversation, no fine, nothing, meaning the Rangers lost a valuable winger and a repeat offender got away with an illegal move once again.



Impact on the Rangers
Blais was playing on the top line, so he will have to be replaced. Greg McKegg was sent down, which means that Julien Gauthier is pretty much locked into a role. Filip Chytil, out since the Calgary skate, skated for 45-60 Sunday and could be an option to play tonight. If Chytil is out a while longer, Morgan Barron is the likely promotion candidate and he could slot onto the bottom six. A pipe dream would be for Vitali Kravtsov to come back to the US and play for the team, but that is likely a far-fetched option.

With Blais out, New York could move Alexis Lafreniere back to the first line, sliding Chytil back onto the third line. Chytil would either play center, or the Rangers view that experiment as past its prime, have him skate on the wing with Barclay Goodrow remaining at center. Another option is to have Goodrow move back to the top line with Chytil centering Laf and Gauthier. Coach Gerard Gallant could opt to try Laf back on the first line or give Gauthier, less palatable of an option, a whirl there. Any way you shape it, an impact to a lineup already struggling to score and figure out the top-nine in losing Blais.

Here is my best guess at the lines for tonight, though don't be shocked if Laf and Goodrow are swapped with Chytil at center on the third line:

LAF, Zib, Kreider
Panarin, Strome, Kakko
Chytil, Goodrow, Gauthier
Hunt, Rooney, Reaves

Update: 11:15am:
Vince Mercogliano - Gallant said that Goodrow will move up to take Blais' spot next to Kreider and Zibanejad. That means the third line will be Laf, Chytil and Gauthier. #NYR 

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