New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox is expected to be activated from long-term injured reserve for Wednesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings, according to Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet.

The Rangers recalled Jonny Brodzinski and Adam Edstrom from the Hartford Wolf Pack as a result of Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko heading on l0ng-term injured reserve, but Connor Mackey was assigned to the Wolf Pack in preparation for Adam Fox's return.

Fox initially went down with a lower-body injury during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes early on in the season. He played one more shift in that game against the Hurricanes, in which the Rangers ended up winning, before not appearing on ice again. Fox was then placed on long-term injured reserve.

This is the earliest that Fox was eligible to return, and he has been a full participant in practice with the Rangers as of late. It is huge for the Rangers to get Fox back as soon as he was eligible to return.

Fox is a former Norris Trophy winner, and arguably the team's best skater. He is a driver of a ton of offense for the team, and the point man on the power play. While Erik Gustafsson has filled in as well as anyone could ask for in that spot, Fox is on another level. His passing ability paired with Artemi Panarin is what makes the team's power play so dangerous.

While it is a blow for the Rangers to be without Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko for an extended period of time, the return of Fox can not be downplayed.