Adam Fox took to practice with the New York Rangers as a full participant on Monday, indicating that his return from injury might not be too far away.
The 25-year-old was placed on long-term injured reserve on Nov. 3 after getting injured in a knee-on-knee collision with Carolina’s Sebastian Aho. Fox is eligible to return Wednesday against Detroit, which would give the Rangers’ back end a huge boost.
Considered to be one of the best young defensemen in the game today, Fox had 11 points in 10 games prior to his injury. Fox was a Norris Trophy finalist for the second time in his career last season after putting up 72 points for the Rangers, but Erik Karlsson’s explosive campaign sent the trophy to San Jose instead. Fox won the Norris in 2020-21 after leading all defensemen with 42 assists before registering a career-high 74 points in 2021-22.
Despite Fox’s absence – as well as some missed games from goaltender Igor Shesterkin – the Rangers have managed to stand tall. They’ve gone 7-1-1 in nine games since Fox was put on LTIR, just one behind Winnipeg and St. Louis for the most in that span. The Rangers have gotten some good goaltending from veteran Jonathan Quick, while Erik Gustafsson stepped up to produce 10 points as the team’s No. 1 offensive defenseman. Artemi Panarin (13 points), Vincent Trocheck (12 points) and Chris Kreider (11 points) have led the way up front for the Rangers in that span.
Fox won’t be available for the Rangers’ 7:00 PM contest against Buffalo on Monday, but could still see three games of action with bouts against Detroit, Nashville and San Jose to come this week. The Rangers are tied with the Boston Bruins for first in the Eastern Conference with 31 points and currently boast the Metropolitan Division’s best streak with three consecutive wins.
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