Danny Wild-Imagn ImagesThe New York Rangers return to action out of the Olympic break on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers and they'll receive some reinforcements.
After missing 13 games with their own respective lower-body injuries, Mike Sullivan confirmed that both Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin will make their long-awaited return to the lineup.
“They're healthy, they've trained extremely hard to get back to the position that they're in, and they're elite players, and they make us a better team,” Sullivan said of Fox and Shesterkin. “It’s a huge boost. The caliber of players that they are, it’s hard to replace those guys, as we know. When you get two elite players back in the lineup like that, I think it gives a huge boost of confidence to the whole group.”
Despite shedding his non-contact jersey and fully being cleared to practice, the team has opted to hold out Adam Edström from the lineup for a little bit longer, who hasn’t played since Nov. 29 and was placed on long-term injured reserve on Dec. 10.
“Eddie has been out for a long time, so he hasn’t had a lot of team practices,” Sullivan said. “We're working with Eddie from a conditioning standpoint, timing standpoint, to get him up to speed. We think he needs more team practices to set him up for success.”
Brendan Brisson is expected to make his Rangers debut on Thursday night.
Coming in a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights last year in March, Brisson has exclusively played in the American Hockey League for the Hartford Wolf Pack. He was called up to practice with the Rangers through the Olympic break and will now get an opportunity to showcase his skills in game action.
Brisson practiced on a line alongside Noah Laba and Conor Sheary, as well as taking reps on the second power play unit.
“Based on my understanding in conversations with Dru (Chris Drury), and the staff, and Grant Potulny in Hartford, Breeze has some offensive instincts, and potentially could be a guy that could help us in that area,” Sullivan said of Brisson. “We're going to try to do our best to give him an opportunity there and see how he does.”
Vincent Iorio is also slated to play in his second game with the Rangers, having been claimed off waivers by the Blueshirts before the Olympic break.