The New York Rangers will be without Derek Stepan for the next 4 to 6 six weeks and the Boston Bruins and Matt Beleskey can rest easy at night knowing they're still the line-stepping-est franchise in the NHL after it was announced by the Rangers on Monday that the broken ribs Stepan suffered as a result of a questionable hit from Beleskey during a game on Friday would keep him out of the lineup for the next month-plus.
Here's video of the hit as a refresher.
Beleskey gets to Stepan after the puck is gone and throws him hard into the boards from a distance - a combination that would seem likely to incur a penalty, though there was nothing called. Reports have suggested that Beleskey won't face a suspension as a result of the incident. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault made clear after the game that he was unhappy with the hit.
"In our opinion, it was a late hit," Vigneault said, via NESN. "More than a second, and he was a couple of feet away from the boards. So, we'll have to wait and see. I remember Aaron Rome in this building, 0.6 seconds late, getting suspended four games in the Stanley Cup Final, so (it will) be interesting to see."
Beleskey told reporters he thought Stepan was at fault - because he didn't brace himself for the hit.
"I just think he didn't think I was going to hit him," Beleskey told NESN. "He kind of didn't brace himself. I didn't take any extra strides or anything like that. Maybe, maybe, a little bit late. But he saw me coming, I came from the front. So, it's unfortunate that ... I think I just saw he's injured, so hopefully he's all right."
Stepan isn't alright though, and will now miss the next month and a half. There's been no word what the Rangers plan to do with his roster spot. As Larry Brooks of the New York Post notes, there are complications related to the team potentially placing him on long-term injured reserve. It would save them $5 million in temporary cap space, but limit their allowance once Stepan returns.
The team announced that there will be no call up at the moment, though with the Rangers in New York for the next four games, including Monday against the Hurricanes, Vigneault did not rule out the possibility of a call up from Hartford.
This is the second season in a row that Stepan will miss significant time due to injury. In 23 games this season, Stepan has six goals and six assists.
