After appearing to hurt his leg in last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the New York Rangers are placing veteran forward Blake Wheeler on long-term injured reserve, and the injury will keep him out for the remainder of the regular season. Johnston also indicated that Wheeler could be out for the rest of the year, but that will largely be dictated by his recovery process and how deep the team goes in the playoffs.
It is unpleasant news for both player and team, as this injury will likely become the unceremonious end to Wheeler’s first season outside of the Winnipeg Jets organization since 2010-11. After being bought out by the Jets this past summer, Wheeler settled for a one-year, $800K contract with the Rangers with $100K bonuses after 10, 20, and 30 games played, respectively.
Although coming off another solid offensive year in Winnipeg throughout the 2022-23 season, his first campaign in New York did not start particularly well. Even with the team getting off to a strong start, it would take Wheeler 11 games to record his first assist, and another two games after that to register his first goal with the club.
Even as the month turned over into December, Wheeler’s offensive output had completely cratered, managing only two goals and six points through the organization’s first 26 games. However, since the team’s Dec. 12 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wheeler had certainly reacquired some offensive touch, scoring seven goals and 15 assists over the next 28 contests.
For the Rangers specifically; the team has already been keeping tabs on the forward market for this season’s upcoming trade deadline, as they’re hoping to replace some of the lost value of center Filip Chytil who will also miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Now that Wheeler has suffered the same fate, it is almost certain the Rangers will make a move to beef up their forward depth by the end of the day on March 8th.
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