Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren injury has silver lining after awkward collision

Peter Laviolette speaks on Lindgren’s injury

While Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was originally concerned that the injury could cost Lindgren the rest of the season, he’s happy with the much lighter diagnosis.

“When you watch somebody leave the ice like that and they come back and they tell you it might be 2-3 weeks, that’s some good news,” New York’s bench boss explained, per NHL.com. “He’s such a great player for us. It’s tough, but we’ll make sure he’s healthy. We won’t rush him back and make sure he’s ready to go when he’s ready to go.”

With Jacob Trouba already on the shelf, the Rangers D-core is seriously crippled with under a month left in the regular-season. Lindgren is joined at the hip with Adam Fox on the team’s top pairing, and it’s not clear who will jump up to replace the Minnesota native.

Trouba has already missed two weeks after he left a 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers back on Mar. 4. He was given a 2-3 week timetable, and should be back in the lineup before the end of April.

Chad Ruhwedel time?

One option to replace Lindgren is Stanley Cup champion Chad Ruhwedel, who was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL trade deadline and has not yet made his Rangers debut.

That is almost certainly going to change on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden, with Ruhwedel set to enter the lineup in Lindgren’s absence. The veteran fetched a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft.

“We’ve been waiting to get Ruhwedel in there; it hasn’t presented itself,” Laviolette explained, per NHL.com. “He’s been great, he’s been working hard, and now he gets an opportunity because of the injury to Lindgren. To have that depth is really important, not just for now to cover yourself regular season, when you get into the playoffs you know exactly what happens with regard to personnel.”

Another player who could get a look is Brandon Scanlin, who was recalled from the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack on Monday. The 24-year-old has put up eight goals and 16 points over 57 games in Hartford in 2023-24.

But, at least for the outer-conference tilt with the Jets, it’ll be Ruhwedel slotting into the lineup.

Rangers holding on at top of Metro

It’s been an excellent season in the Big Apple, and the Rangers continue to lead the Metro with 94 points in 68 games, tied with the Florida Panthers for the best points percentage in the league (.691).

But the depth is going to be seriously tested; Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren are difficult if not impossible players to replace. And with the Carolina Hurricanes surging after acquiring Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov at the deadline, the lead in the division is down to just four points.

Add to that the insane scheduling the Blueshirts are dealing with down the stretch:

“[The Rangers]  have a four-point lead on the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan Division and are in a stretch of 20 games in 38 days that started March 9 and continues against the Jets, at the Boston Bruins on Thursday and home against the Panthers on Saturday,” wrote NHL.com.

New York played five times last week, and will play another three games over the next five days. It’ll be intriguing to see if the club can hold onto the top spot in the Metro for the last 14 games, or if the Canes will do enough to usurp them come the end of April.