Rangers’ Noah Laba exits game with upper-body injury

Laba, 22, appeared to be in some discomfort after slamming into the boards mid-way through the first period, and went to the dressing room shortly thereafter.

This isn’t the first time Laba has dealt with injury this season. The Northville, Michigan native missed three games with an upper-body injury to begin the calendar year after taking a big hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on New Year’s Eve.

Laba is in his rookie season, and has put up six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 52 games played for the Rangers.

Initially selected out of the USHL by New York in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Laba would go on to play three seasons for Colorado College in the NCAA. His best collegiate campaign came in the 2023-24 season, when he registered 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points in 36 games. Last season, he put up 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in 29 games for Colorado College before joining the Rangers’ AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack for 11 games towards the end of the year, where he managed three goals and two assists for five points.

New York is in the midst of a lost season. Having already announced themselves as sellers, the Rangers would like to use the rest of this season to get a good look at young players like Laba.

Following Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh, the Rangers will head home to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before the NHL goes on hiatus for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.