Rangers Analysis: With Drury and Dubinsky out, Rangers look for options
As per the tweets of Steve Zipay:
Tortorella: Drury has concussion, Dubinsky probably out for awhile
After last night's hard fought loss, the Rangers lost more than just two points. As you can see above, both Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsk were injured. Chris Drury will probably be out a week or two with his concussion and if Dubinsky's wrist is broken or fractured (which is most likely) then he will be out for at least 3 weeks depending on the severity.
Adding insult to injury here is that both Drury and Dubinsky are centers, which leaves the Rangers with Vaclav Prospal, Artem Ansisimov and Brian Boyle as the centers. So let's take a look at some moves the Rangers may have to make.
Corey Locke: With 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 14 games Locke is the leading point scorer for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Locke has been pretty brilliant in the AHL before but has seen very little NHL time.
Evgeny Grachev: Like Locke Grachev would be an AHL call-up. Grachev has picked up his play a little in Hartford, scoring 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points in 15 games. Grachev--arguably one of the most exciting Rangers prospects--might be a good candidate to replace the injured centers as well. Ranger fans are dying to see this kid in the NHL and he may get a legitimate shot here.
Peter Forsberg: A lot of you were down on Forsberg as soon as the story that the Rangers were scouting him hit the fan. I don't understand why. Yes, Forsberg makes Marian Gaborik look like the man made from impenetrable steel, but when Forsberg does play he is a monster. Scouts say that his foot is much healthier than it was a year ago, and if the Rangers deem he is good to go then Glen Sather might make a serious move for him, depending on his asking salary.
Those are just three quick options I looked into. Yes, I know that Forsberg is not a center but with Dubinsky out the Rangers are gonna need some set-up guys, and Forsberg would answer that call. The other option is that Sather makes a trade but it's way too early to know what Sather is thinking on that subject.
What moves do you guys think the Rangers should look at? Let us know in the comments! (Please remember the Rangers have just under 700K in cap space. And no Redden and Drury won't be traded.)
