New York Rangers centre Derek Stepan was helped off the ice Wednesday after suffering a non-displaced fibula fracture in his left leg.
After meeting with doctors, general manager Glen Sather announced Stepan will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
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Stepan fell to the ice while participating in a conditioning test and those in attendance at the skate reported that Stepan appeared to be in obvious pain.
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The 24-year-old had been held out of scrimmages over the weekend and sat out of Monday’s pre-season opener with a foot contusion he suffered in early September.
Stepan finished the 2013-14 season second on the Rangers in points with 57 in 82 games; he added 15 points in 24 post-season games during the Rangers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.
In his four-year NHL career, the 51st-overall pick from the 2008 draft has never missed a regular-season game.
Stepan is the team’s projected first-line centre. With Brad Richards now a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers now find themselves in a predicament down the middle. With Stepan out, the Rangers will have to rely on Derick Brassard, Dominic Moore, J.T. Miller, plus free agent signings Matthew Lombardi and Chris Mueller.
Head coach Alain Vigneault told reporters he feels the Rangers “have a good list of potential candidates” to fill the void.
