The New York Rangers were rolling along and winning games before an unfortunate injury occurred. Adam Fox was hit with a knee-on-knee collision in the Rangers’ game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The star defenseman was placed on LTIR (long-term injured reserve) and is expected to be out 2-4 weeks.
The Rangers not only had to deal with Fox going down but Filip Chytil as well. Fox is a major star in the league and won the Norris trophy in his sophomore season. He is a huge part of the Rangers’ strong defensive group, the offense, defense, and both special teams units. It won’t be easy for New York to navigate the next few weeks without him. Fox has three goals and 11 points in 10 games, so the team is missing a lot of production. With that said, there will be players who will benefit. These players will get bumps in fantasy as well, but there will also be players negatively impacted. Let’s take a look at the fantasy hockey impact of Fox’s injury.
Which Rangers Players Get a Bump From the Adam Fox Injury
Fox is on the top pairing and is the sole defenseman on the power play. That right there is two very key spots in fantasy hockey. Whoever fills those spots is going to get a nice boost and worth picking up. While it’s just likely Braden Schneider will move up to the second pairing and Ryan Lindgren will move down to form the duo, the real value comes on the power play. Schneider will get a boost, but I’m not so sure it will be enough to warrant picking him up unless it’s a deep league. In that case, go for it.
I can guarantee not many fantasy leagues don’t have Erik Gustafsson available. He should be the one replacing Fox on the top power-play unit. Seeing how the Rangers are ranked third in the league on the power play through the first 10 games of the season at 32.4 percent, Gustafsson is most definitely worth the add. He is a strong offensive player either way, but now he gets a big opportunity. The last two times he got an opportunity like this was with the Washington Capitals during John Carlson’s injury, and before that, with the Chicago Blackhawks when he scored 17 goals and 60 points in 79 games. He can run a power play and has two goals and four points on the season already.
Since Lindgren moves down without an elite partner, this means Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller get more ice time by default. This will raise their value, but they are likely already rostered by the majority. If you have either of them, start them.
Who is Negatively Impacted on the Rangers
While Gustafsson is a strong replacement for Fox on the top power-play unit, he’s not Fox. This will negatively impact all four other members of that top unit. Those players are Mika Zibanjed, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Chris Krieder. These four combine for 22 power-play points while nine of Fox’s 11 points have come on the power-play. It will be an adjustment, but I don’t think the power play can stay above 30 percent with the time to adjust and different personnel.
Unless you are in a league with lots of categories that include stats like hits, blocks, etc., Lindgren isn’t that valuable in fantasy hockey. But, seeing as he played on a pairing with the best defenseman on the team, he got residual points and lots of ice time. That will drop for the next while. The other area that will be negatively impacted by Fox’s injury is goaltending. Not often does a team get better when they lose their top defenseman. Wins will be harder to come by and a few more goals are bound to squeak in. The Rangers will still be a good team, but not at the level they are at with Fox in the lineup.
If you lost Fox in fantasy for the time being, make sure to jump on Gustafsson as quickly as possible. He’s the next logical replacement that will provide value and is an easy drop when Fox returns. The Rangers and owners of players who will be negatively impacted are hoping for a speedy recovery. But if you are quick enough to grab Gustafsson or have any of the other Rangers’ defensemen benefit as much as you can for the time being.