Derek Stepan is in the final year of his contract, and his season is already off to a bad start. The Rangers pivot was already dealing with a contusion on his foot, but he left Wednesday’s on-ice conditioning evaluation in visible and audible pain, according to multiple members of the New York press corps:
The Rangers later announced Stepan broke his fibula and that his return is unknown at this time.
Stepan is coming off a promising 57-point campaign, and there was reason to be optimistic about him getting off to a better start than last season. A holdout kept Stepan out of the majority of training camp, and his game struggled early on in 2013-14.
There is no official word on when Stepan will return, but this potential long-term injury puts the team in a hole to start the season.
In essence, the Rangers’ current forward group is like a donut—thick and rich on the edges with a hole down the middle. Wingers like Mats Zuccarello, Martin St. Louis, Rick Nash, Chris Kreider and company give fans a reason to be hopeful for a surge in offensive output, but the center positi ...
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Article written by Tom Urtz Jr.
Derek Stepan’s Broken Fibula Exposes Rangers’ Biggest Area of Concern
September 24th, 2014 by Tom Urtz Jr. Leave a reply »
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