With nine games remaining and the Rangers simply playing out the string, the club may shut down banged-up right wing Jesper Fast for the remainder of the season. Fast has been dealing with an upper-body injury and the rebuilding Rangers are not in playoff contention.
"We haven't finally made a decision, but we're certainly leaning in that direction," David Quinn said Thursday. "We certainly don't want to put anybody in harm's way, and if it makes sense to shut someone down for the year, we'll do that."
"I thought we had a pretty good practice today - I thought there was pretty good life, energy, purposeful… We've got to carry that over to tomorrow and be ready to go Saturday." - #NYR Coach Quinn pic.twitter.com/3VRyJhtc7F
- New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 21, 2019
Fast's practice time has been limited over the last couple of months, and according to the New York Post the 27-year-old alternate captain has been playing through a shoulder injury for about three months. Fast has eight goals and 12 assists in 66 games this season while averaging a career-high 15:43 of ice time. He did not play on Tuesday against Detroit.
The Rangers return to action Saturday night in Toronto. Chris Kreider and Marc Staal missed practice Thursday with lower-body injuries and both are day-to-day.