Vesey Week-to-Week with Upper Body Injury

A little after halfway through the second period in game 2, Vesey moved the puck up the ice and absorbed a hit from Ryan Lomberg. It was immediately apparent the physical play shook up Vesey and he did not return to the game shortly after.

I posted the above clip so you could see the whole play. No penalty was called, but Lomberg did not finish his check questionably late. To make matters worse, focusing in on the play you can see an unintentional headbutt from Lomberg to Vesey's head.

Unsurprisingly this led to the following announcement, Vesey would be week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

The Rangers are now in an intriguing situation, having just sat Kaapo Kakko, and with Blake Wheeler seemingly cleared who will they turn to? There has been a lot of discussion on the pros and cons of having Kakko on the roster. He has been defensively sound and was part of an effective forechecking third line, but that being said, this is now the second time in just a few years he's been scratched for a game in the Eastern Conference Final, by two different coaches no less.

Wheeler has surpassed all expectations in being available during this postseason run, but he's not necessarily who the team should turn to just yet. There's also no way Laviolette will be taking Rempe out after that type of win. The answer is that Kakko should play again, but it is fair to be critical of his offensive production. Tough words to say here, but he has not lived up to the expectations expected of him when the Rangers drafted him with their second overall pick in 2019. To be fair, this is due to a variety of reasons, some of them not his fault, but we're not going to get further into this subject here. With Vesey out the best path forward is to put Kakko right back into the game.