Peter Laviolette confirms New York Rangers veteran will miss opening night roster

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Joshua Deeds
October 1, 2024 (6:29 PM)

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The Rangers will be down a veteran forward for a few weeks, as Jimmy Vesey is out on injury.

Sunday, the 31-year-old, would slowly crumble onto the ice in pain, and slowly limp off the ice back to the locker rooms.

Veteran forward Jimmy Vesey will miss "a few weeks" due to a lower-body injury, according to head coach Peter Laviolette.

The team will have to search their depth options to find a viable, fourth-line forward who can grind it out, play defense and retrieve pucks.

The injury leaves a spot on the fourth line and penalty kill, and it is up for grabs.

Someone will have to make a name for himself and compete for the spot, while Vesey is out.

"That's what training camp's about," Laviolette said following Monday's practice. "It's an opportunity for guys to step up. I do think some guys have had good camps, and that's the evaluation process. We're still going on. We've still got three (preseason) games left, and so those evaluations are still taking place."

Adam Edstrom has been the player who has been considered the best option to fill the spot. He's been competing with Matt Rempe for ice time and now the Rangers could end up using both physical and towering forwards.

Veterans Sam Carrick and Jonny Brodzinski have been touted as worthy options as well.

To even consider rostering 13 forwards, the Rangers will have to place Vesey and Ryan Lindgren on IR. We're not sure of Vesey's injury status yet, but when the team is informed, they'll have to consider how to handle his salary, if he's slated for IR or not. They'll also have to consider whether cutting back on 7 defensemen is a sound strategy while Lindgren is out as well.

In the meantime, both Lindgren and Vesey will have to be out for 10 games or 24 days to be on LTIR.

The Rangers could use that cap flexibility roster, Rempe and Edstrom.

Vesey has appeared in 161 of 164 possible games the last two seasons, combining for 51 points (24 goals and 27 assists) in that span with a plus-nine rating and 50.33% xGF, according to Natural Stat Trick. He's added a little scoring punch to the fourth line, but it's his defense and sound decision-making that have become his primary values to the team.