Rangers forward Wojtek Wolski, sidelined since Oct. 27 with a sports hernia that required surgery on Nov. 7, should be ready to return to the lineup by the end of this week.
Defenseman Marc Staal, sidelined all season dealing with the after-effects of the concussion he initially sustained Feb. 22, could be cleared for contact this week and could make his 2011-12 debut within the next two weeks.
Defenseman Michael Sauer, sidelined since Dec. 5 with post-concussion symptoms in the aftermath of the blow he took that night from Dion Phaneuf, seems to be improving though the Rangers have issued no updates concerning his health.
Which means even as the NHL holiday roster freeze remains in effect through midnight tomorrow, general manager Glen Sather and coach John Tortorella will soon have to confront personnel decisions.
The Rangers, who bring a four-game winning streak into tonight’s Madison Square Garden match against the Islanders, are currently at the 23-player roster limit. This does not include the aforementioned three injured players, with Wolski and Staal on long-term injury and Sauer on injured reserve. Neither does it include Steve Eminger, also on IR after sustaining a separated shoulder Dec. 17 that will sideline him for another couple of months.
The Rangers are carrying two extra forwards, Sean Avery (scratched from seven straight) and Erik Christensen (scratched three straight), for whom Tortorella has little, if any, use. The club also has been carrying one extra defenseman since Jeff Woywitka sustained a bruised foot in Phoenix on Dec. 17 then aggravated the injury at last Thursday’s morning skate.
If Woywitka returns to the lineup tonight, he would replace Tim Erixon. The Rangers would almost certainly send Erixon back to the AHL Whale rather than keep the 20-year-old freshman as a spare. That move would bring the club one under the roster limit and allow Sather to bring Wolski off LTI without being forced to make a concurrent roster move.
But though not obligatory, it is unlikely the Rangers would carry three extra forwards on the roster, even for the additional week or so before the team would be obligated to make a move in order to create a space for Staal, assuming, of course, the alternate captain’s recovery continues on course.
The question is whether Sather would seek to move Avery, who should have value off his effective play when given the opportunity, or whether the GM would attempt to deal Christensen, now that the coach is using Ruslan Fedotenko as a fourth-line center and has John Mitchell as an option in the middle as well.
Tortorella, though, will be facing the more immediate decision, as Wolski, who carries a $3.8 million cap hit, is likely to rejoin the lineup once he’s cleared. Thus, the coach will be obligated to remove a forward from the lineup perhaps as soon as either Wednesday in Washington or Friday in Florida.
Mike Rupp, who has struggled in his four games since returning on Dec. 17 from a knee injury that had sidelined him for nearly two months and who played just one 31-second shift in the third period of Friday’s 4-2 victory over the Flyers, would seem the likely candidate, but the coach has talked up the veteran winger’s importance since training camp.