New York Rangers News: Marc Staal Placed On IR, Sean Avery Assigned To AHL
The New York Rangers have officially shut Marc Staal down for at least the immediate future, placing the stalwart defenseman on injury reserve today.
The move was expected once the Rangers announced that Staal would not be making the trip to Europe for the Rangers' season opener. I would go into detail about what the move means for Staal's recovery, but I don't have any information on it. Incidentally, no one else does either.
And while Marc Staal (post-concussion headaches) was not going to be available for either of the games in Stockholm (also against the Ducks on Saturday), general manager Glen Sather told the on-site New York Post this morning that Staal might be out for a month.
Of course, that's how it works with concussions. Staal was going to be out a week. He could miss a month. He could miss two months, etc. Nobody knows right now. Staal certainly doesn't know. All he can tell the Rangers is when he stops having headaches after intensifying his workouts. The Rangers did not give a reason for why Staal did not skate yesterday, a setback is obviously one of the possibilities. TSN's Bob McKenzie suggests that Staal may shut down his rehab for now while seeking more medical opinions.
Join me after the jump for more.
Unfortunately, right now, the only thing the Rangers can do is bide their time with Staal. He has experienced symptoms when ramping up is workouts, so it's going to take some time to see when the headaches subside, or even to wait out the setbacks. The reality of the situation is that no one knows.
The Rangers are doing the right thing by shutting him down. I would much rather Staal miss the first 20 games of the season then the final 60 because he was rushed back. In the end, this might be a situation we need to be patient with, and that's what the Rangers are doing right now.
In other "expected but now official" news, the Rangers have assigned Sean Avery to the Connecticut Whale.
Whether or not he reports remains to be seen. He might be seeking employment in Europe, since he is already there, but we'll have to wait and see on this as well.
Also, since we didn't report it earlier, Brandon Dubinsky will start the year as the left winger on the first line. That might be an indication that Wojtek Wolski isn't fully healthy, or that John Tortorella thinks Dubinsky has earned the spot. Either way, it should be fun come Friday.
Thoughts on all this guys?