Let’s be honest, there wasn’t exactly a groundswell of excitement nor much interest about the New York Rangers returning to practice Tuesday. Such is the case when you’re a last-place team and largely out-of-sight, out-of-mind since the Olympic break began two weeks ago.
But that doesn’t mean Rangers practice wasn’t without some intrigue. That’s because Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox were full participants in the skate. And though the Rangers don’t play a game again until Feb. 26 against the Philadelphia Flyers, there appears to be a pretty darn good good chance that their No. 1 goalie and star defenseman could be back in the lineup for that one.
And that’s a big deal. Because the Rangers were an eyesore without them in the lineup much of January, losers in 12 of 14 games.
The Blueshirts likely weren’t going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season anyway. But the night of Jan. 5 and what happened since made that a certainty. Both Shesterkin and Fox sustained lower-body injuries, and the Rangers blew a third-period lead in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth at Madison Square Garden that night.
The rest, as they, is history. The Rangers plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference and now are 30th out of 32 teams in the NHL standings. Shortly after the duel injuries, general manager Chris Drury threw in the towel on this season and proclaimed that a retool, not a complete rebuild, is underway.
The Rangers traded Carson Soucy to the Islanders. Then right before the break, Artemi Panarin was shipped to the Los Angeles Kings.
The GM recognized that the Rangers (22-29-6) had no chance of staying afloat this season without Shesterkin and Fox out for extended stretches.
But that doesn’t mean getting these two stars back in the lineup for the final 25 games isn’t a big deal. It is. And not because there’re hope the Rangers can win, say, 20 times down the stretch and make a miracle playoff push. Let’s be real.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Having Shesterkin and Fox in the lineup does give the Rangers a fighting chance to best represent themselves. That allows management and coaches to better evaluate the young talent that’s here — or soon to be — in a more stable atmosphere and game setting. That’s an important piece to this retool.
Rangers could get 2 stars back in lineup after Olympic break
There are those concerned having Shesterkin and Fox back hurts the Rangers chances of winning the NHL Draft Lottery. Per Tankathon, the Rangers have an 11.6 percent chance of winning the lottery and selecting first overall in this year’s draft. The more they win down the stretch, the worse their odds get.
The argument to that is, the lottery’s a crapshoot. Remember, the Rangers had the 14th best odds in 2020, but won the lottery and selected Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick. Last year, the Islanders had the 10th best odds, yet landed a generational player in Matthew Schaefer after winning the lottery and the right to select the 18-year-old defenseman first overall.
When Shesterkin and Fox are healthy, they must play. Fox was on cusp of a return right before the break, wearing a no-contact sweater during practices. So, he appeared to be ahead of Shesterkin, who worked on his own and not with the team ahead of the Olympic break.
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Fox missed 27 games with two extended injury absences this season. The 28-year-old was out most of December with an upper-body injury, before landing on LTIR again with his latest injury.
Despite playing only 30 games, Fox is tied for third on the Rangers with 24 assists and is sixth with 28 points. The 2021 Norris Trophy winner is sorely missed on the top defense pair alongside Vladislav Gavrikov and quarterbacking the No. 1 power-play unit. His terrific expected goal share of 59.92 percent at 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick, is head and shoulders better than anyone else on New York’s roster.
Shesterkin was the League’s busiest goaltender before sustaining this lower-body injury. The 30-year-old is third among NHL goalies who’ve played at least 30 games with a 2.45 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
Seeing how the Rangers cratered without him only bolstered the case that Shesterkin is their MVP this season.
Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny
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