The weight of Adam Fox’s absence is beginning to grow larger on the New York Rangers.
Once Fox went down with an upper-body injury that landed him on long-term injured reserve, the general consensus was that the Rangers would struggle and falter in the standings without him.
Surprisingly, the Rangers were able to secure six out of eight points through their first four games without Fox, playing some of their best hockey of the season.
However, it was on Wednesday night in the Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks when everything came crashing down for the Blueshirts, and Fox’s absence was prevalent.
Let's start with the power play. Without Fox, the Rangers have been operating with five forwards on the first power-play unit, a strategy that has not worked out the way Mike Sullivan would have hoped for.
This five-forward unit has gone 0-10 on the man advantage and reached a low point on Wednesday night after giving up a demoralizing shorthanded goal.
The Rangers made a change, putting Scott Morrow on the first power-play unit, but they still struggled without Fox.
Without a steady quarterback and defensive presence, which Fox previously provided, the Rangers’ power play has had trouble setting up in the offensive zone and continues to be prone to giving up odd-man rushes.
“It's been a mixed bag. They showed us enough to stay with it for as long as we have, but they showed us enough to make a change,” Sullivan said of his mid-game power-play adjustment. “We put a defenseman up there. I'm not sure what we're going to do moving forward, but obviously Fox is not an easy guy to replace.”
From an overall defensive standpoint, the loss of Fox has caused every blueliner’s role to increase.
Braden Schneider is playing alongside Vladislav Gavrikov, oftentimes matching up against opposing teams' top players, a role he isn’t usually accustomed to.
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The Rangers are now even more reliant on Will Borgen and Carson Soucy, while Morrow was thrust into the lineup even though Sullivan has shown a lack of confidence in him at certain points, given his limited role and that he’s spent the majority of the season in the American Hockey League.
Against the Blackhawks, the Rangers were a mess in their own end, giving up multiple high-quality scoring chances due to their poor defensive play.
Their defensive woes aren’t all due to Fox’s injury, but his presence would’ve certainly helped the situation in Chicago.
Prior to being placed on LTIR, Fox’s 23:50 minutes per game led all Rangers players, and he recorded 26 points in 27 games.
That sort of production is extremely difficult to replace and the Blueshirts will be forced to fend without him for even longer.
According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic, the Rangers are expecting him to miss multiple weeks due to a left-shoulder injury and he’ll be reevaluated around Christmas.
Despite not practicing with the team, the 27-year-old defenseman has resumed on-ice activity, according to Sullivan.
The Rangers will have to weather the storm without their star defenseman, and Wednesday night’s loss showed that it will be a significant challenge.