New York Rangers superstar won't return after suffering lower-body injury

The New York Rangers have announced that superstar defenseman Adam Fox has left Thursday's contest against the Carolina Hurricanes and will not return due to a lower-body injury. Fox collided with Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho in what appeared to be a shin-on-shin incident and left with about 7:51 left in the first period of the affair. Fox played two more shifts after the collision and looked to be laboring before exiting with about 5:30 left in the first period.

There was no penalty on the play, which saw a collision in which Fox thought that Aho may have stuck his leg out. In the video replay, it doesn’t appear as though Aho moves his knee or attempts to change the course of his blade, though. Aho does appear to attempt to engage Fox physically but misses him with his upper body, causing their legs to collide.

In any event, it’s an unfortunate outcome for Fox and the Rangers as the young defenseman came into Thursday’s game tied for the lead in scoring amongst all NHL defensemen with three goals and eight assists in 10 games. Fox finished second in Norris Trophy voting last season behind eventual winner Erik Karlsson, with the native of Jericho, New York, posting 12 goals and 60 assists in 82 games.

In the absence of Fox, it appears that fellow defenseman Erik Gustafsson will take over his role on the Rangers top powerplay. While Gustafsson is a competent offensive contributor, his capabilities with the man advantage are a massive drop off from those of the 2021 Norris Trophy winner. Gustafsson had seven goals and 35 assists in 70 games last season. 14 of those points came with the man advantage.

The Rangers don’t play until Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild and one would have to think there should be an update on Fox’s injury status prior to the puck drop in Minnesota Saturday night.