Alain Vigneault hardly had to wait for the question to finish before he began shaking his head, saying, “No, I think we all knew.”
The question asked was about any surprise the Rangers coach had at how much trickle-down effect there was following the injury to top center Derek Stepan. That one absence sent Vigneault’s roster into moderate chaos, which hasn’t exactly been resolved with his Blueshirts holding a 5-4-0 record going into Saturday’s match at the Garden against the Jets.
Stepan was brought up because Friday’s practice was his first with the team since breaking his left leg Sept. 24. Although Stepan’s jersey was a non-contact yellow instead of the orange worn by half the forwards on this Halloween, the positive was his return now felt tangible.
“Right off the hop we lose Step,” Vigneault reflected, “so that really challenges our depth.”
The coach made reference not only to the losses of centers Brad Richards (bought out) and Brian Boyle (free agent), but also that of Matt Lombardi. The veteran, brought in on a two-year, $1.6 million deal, couldn’t make the team out of training camp and decided to go back to Europe instead of AHL Hartford.
“Initially, we had thought that Lombardi would be able to come in and step in, and maybe if he would have stayed he would be here right now,” Vigneault said. “But he decided to go another route.”
Stepan is eligible to come off Long Term Injured Reserve for Monday’s home game against the Blues. Though Vigneault said that was unlikely, he didn’t rule it out.
“All things considered, I would probably prefer to have him in more than one practice,” said Vigneault, whose team would only have Sunday as a practice day for Stepan if he were cleared for contact immediately. “But again, if [he] and the medical staff say [he is] 100 percent and he comes to us and says he feels ready to go, then we’ll see what we need to do there.”
This the first injury of Stepan’s career that has kept him out of the lineup for an extended period of time, and the 24-year-old said, “The wife and dog are probably sick of me.”
He was skating on his own for four of five days prior to Friday, and this single practice with his teammates — “with someone to pass to,” as he put it — brought a big smile to his face.
The closest analogue Stepan has faced came before last season, when he missed most of training camp while in the midst of a contract dispute. He then rejoined the team and took about two months to regain his form.
“I know the only way to get game-feel back is to play games,” Stepan said. “As much as I work on the ice in practice and stuff like that, the only way to get a game scenario is in a game. My goal is to try to make it as quick as possible, but you can’t rush these things.”
Stepan said he continued to go the team meetings, including those for the power-play and penalty-kill units, before he was able to retake the ice. It has kept him up to date on the team’s early ups and downs, which he hopes to help rectify once he is able to rejoin the lineup.
“This is a huge step just to be back on the ice skating and sweating and getting some work in afterward — it’s really important,” Stepan said. “It’s nice to start to kind of feel like a player again.”