The New York Rangers suffered some crucial losses to injuries during their preseason win over the New York Islanders this week. While they received a fairly positive outlook on Artemi Panarin’s injury, the update on defenseman Ryan Lindgren was not as encouraging.
Rangers to be without Ryan Lindgren for “at least a few weeks”
The Blueshirts will have to begin their season without Lindgren in their defensive corps. According to Mollie Walker of The New York Post, Lindgren is “expected to be sidelined for at least a few weeks with an upper-body injury.”
The injury was seemingly sustained during a fight with Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield during Tuesday night’s preseason matchup. That fight will be a costly one as Lindgren will now miss the start of the regular season on October 9.
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Lindgren plays a key role in the Blueshirt’s success. He is featured on the Rangers’ first defensive pairing alongside superstar Adam Fox. The 26-year-old defenseman has had his struggles with injuries throughout his career but has also been among New York’s most important players whenever he is on the ice. He posted a +29 rating in the 2022-23 season and backed that up with a +22 rating in 2023-24. Lindgren is a huge loss from the lineup and the Rangers will hope that he is able to return to the ice as soon as possible and not miss a ton of regular-season action.
A prime opportunity will now be opened up for one of the Rangers’ young defensemen in the team’s preseason game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Victor Mancini is an intriguing defenseman prospect to keep an eye on heading into the exhibition match.
