The New York Rangers have finally hit their stride, winning three straight games during Thanksgiving week. But on Saturday, they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning and suffered a tough injury. Rangers defenseman Adam Fox is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Mike Sullivan knows it is a big loss.
“Obviously, Foxy is not an easy guy to replace for so many reasons,” Sullivan said, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. “I'm sure I'm stating the obvious when I say that, but we're going to put a game plan together based on the people that we have to try to set our group up for success.”
Fox is a Norris Trophy winner, but was one of many Rangers to struggle in 2024-25. He has been much better this season, with 26 points in 27 games. But now, he is on the shelf, and New York will have to manage without him. Sullivan may feel the loss in two ways, as Fox is an Olympic candidate for Team USA, which Sullivan will lead.
The Rangers have a solid power play, with a 21.3% success rate. which ranks 12th in the league. Fox is a big piece of the power play, running the point and picking up eight points early in the season. Sullivan spoke about his power play plans amid Fox's absence.
“The two obvious guys would be [Artemi Panarin] and Mika [Zibanejad] probably,” Sullivan said. “Mika can really shoot it. I think [Panarin] sees it really well. He's also really good at getting pucks through. His ability to get pucks down to the net into the areas of the rink we want to get them is a particular attribute that he's good at.”
The Rangers will get their first test without Fox on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the Dallas Stars.
