Latest On Noah Laba, Conor Sheary
This afternoon’s action was especially tough for the Rangers, as the team shared that Noah Laba (upper body) and Conor Sheary (lower body) did not return, as they lost to Washington. It was not immediately specified, but Laba’s injury is likely related to the heavy hit he sustained from Tom Wilson, while Sheary’s ailment was not as glaringly noticeable.
Rangers Activate Adam Fox, Reassign Scott Morrow
Dec. 31: The Rangers announced that defenseman Scott Morrow has been assigned to AHL Hartford, indicating Fox will be activated from long-term injured reserve and return to the lineup tonight against the Caps. Morrow had been up since just before Fox exited the lineup and had gotten a few reps as New York’s top power play quarterback in Fox’s absence, but the 23-year-old transition defender remained relatively unproductive.
As the Blueshirts’ most dynamic defense prospect continues to shift between the NHL and AHL, he’s up to three assists and a -1 rating in 16 games in the top flight this season while averaging 15:34 of ice time per game.
Dec. 30: The New York Rangers might soon be able to put a nightmare injury behind them. Star defenseman Adam Fox has been designated as a game-time decision for Wednesday’s match against the Washington Capitals, per Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic. Fox has missed the last 14 games with a shoulder injury sustained on Nov. 29.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan called Fox a “very difficult guy to replace,” speaking with Mollie Walker of The New York Post. That sentiment has reflected on the scoreboard for the Rangers, who have a 6-5-3 record and 34-to-39 goal differential since Fox’s injury.
Even after a month out of the lineup, the 2021 Norris Trophy winner still ranks third on the Rangers in scoring with 26 points in 27 games. Fox was tied with Artemi Panarin for the scoring lead at the time of his injury. He was also riding a six-game scoring streak that saw him rack up 10 assists, including one in the game he was injured.
Fox could keep that scoring streak rolling with a strong return from injury. He has been taking practice reps alongside Vladislav Gavrikov, who stepped up as New York’s top defender in December. Gavrikov averaged 25:11 in ice time over the last month, the seventh-most of all defensemen in the NHL. That run included Gavrikov reaching nearly 29 minutes of ice time in New York’s December 20th shootout-win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Fox should help shoulder that load and could find a chance to ease back into minutes against a Capitals team that New York beat 7-3 last week.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.
New York Rangers Reassign Brett Berard
- It’s not uncommon for teams to shift around their roster coming out of the holiday break, and the New York Rangers are no different. This morning, the Rangers announced that they’ve reassigned Brett Berard to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. He’s gone scoreless over 11 games this year in New York, and didn’t play throughout the duration of his recent recall.
- Similar to the Rangers, the New Jersey Devils also moved a depth forward back to the AHL today. New Jersey announced that they’ve reassigned Angus Crookshank back to the AHL’s Utica Comets. Unlike Berard, Crookshank played in multiple games throughout his recall, which began on December 5th. He scored one goal in eight games, averaging 8:36 of ice time per game.
- Back with the Rangers, the team could be getting a huge boost to their defensive core by the end of the week. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox has been downgraded to day-to-day and could return tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes. Fox, who hasn’t played since November 29 due to an upper-body injury, has missed the last 13 games for New York. He scored three goals and 26 points in 27 games before the injury.
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Morning Notes: Carrier, Quinn, Johnston
The Carolina Hurricanes were without a depth winger on Tuesday night. William Carrier missed the game due to illness, pushing the team to ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with Joel Nystrom stepping back into the lineup. This marked Carrier’s seventh absence of the season, after facing a lower-body injury earlier in the season.
Carrier has continued to serve a depth role when healthy. He has three goals, seven points, and a plus-one in 29 games this season – putting him on pace for 18 points on the full year if he plays in the rest of Carolina’s outings. The 31 year old also leads the Hurricanes offense in hits-per-game with 58 hits giving him a per-game average of two hits. He will return to a fourth-line role when back to full health.
Other notes from around the league:
- New York Rangers assistant coach David Quinn also missed his team’s Tuesday night game due to an illness. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Quinn has been facing a flu that is going around the team and needded a night off, despite trying to fight through the bug per New York Post’s Mollie Walker. He should be back on the bench once New York returns from the holiday break.
- Anaheim Ducks forward Ross Johnston was fined $2,864.58 by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday for roughing Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye. Johnston chased down and sucker punched Kartye during a scrum in front of the net during the two sides’ Monday matchup. Johnston received a two-minute minor penalty and a game misconduct. Kartye also received a misconduct. Despite the incident, Anaheim won’t have to readjust their lineup, though Johnston’s holiday budget may be shaped a bit differently.
Latest On Adam Fox
Shortly before tonight’s game in Colorado, the Utah Mammoth shared that starting goaltender Karel Vejmelka is unable to play, due to an upper-body injury. Vítek Vaněček has gotten the start, looking to improve upon his 2-7-1 record this season.
As such occurred on short notice, the team signed Utah native Colten McIntyre to an Amateur Try-Out Agreement. McIntyre, 21, will live out a dream tonight having played in the NA3HL and EHL, at the Tier 3 Junior A level, fairly different than #2 goaltender against the best team in the NHL.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Islanders forward Bo Horvat was a participant in practice this morning, donning a non-contact jersey, per Ethan Sears of the New York Post. The center hasn’t played since December 11, leaving mid-game due to a lower-body injury. Fearing the worst, the club received favorable news on his diagnosis, and Horvat should return by early January. Despite showing some regression last season, the 30-year-old has 31 points in 32 games, and will be a huge boost for an Islanders group which has continued to win and exceed expectations.
- Another New York star was spotted this morning in a non-contact jersey, albeit elsewhere, as Adam Fox eases back in from his shoulder injury (shared by Mollie Walker of The New York Post). The defenseman first returned to practice last week, having been absent all of December. With 23 points in 27 games, Fox was playing at peak level prior to going down, and while they do not want to rush him, New York is facing mounting pressure to get their season on track which has been pushed back without their hometown hero. Fox will most likely return after the New Year.
New York Rangers Recall Brett Berard, Place J.T. Miller On IR
The New York Rangers announced today that they have recalled winger Brett Berard from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
According to the New York Post’s Mollie Walker, the Rangers placed captain J.T. Miller on IR in a corresponding move, one that created the necessary space on the Rangers’ roster to add Berard. Miller is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, one reported to be related to his right shoulder.
The move comes shortly after the Rangers were forced into playing a game with 11 forwards and seven defensemen dressed due to an unexpected absence of Gabe Perreault due to illness, as well as an injury to Matt Rempe. By recalling Berard, the Rangers have insulated themselves from further unexpected absences, and given head coach Mike Sullivan another forward option to work with as he constructs his lineup.
Berard, 23, has emerged as a top call-up option for the Rangers over the past year and a half, and appears to be on the cusp of reaching full-time NHL status. The 2020 fifth-round pick scored six goals and 10 points across 35 NHL games last season, showing some flashes of the offensive instincts that have made him a top-six forward at the AHL level. Berard scored 25 goals and 48 points as an AHL rookie in 2023-24 and 23 points in his 30 AHL games last season.
He has nine points in 19 games so far this year for Hartford, though it’s worth noting that the Wolf Pack have struggled, as a whole, to generate goals this season. Hartford’s top remaining scorer is 35-year-old AHL veteran Justin Dowling, who has 16 points in 23 games. The club ranks No. 26 in the AHL in goals scored this season, and while Berard has obviously contributed to that, the low-scoring environment has impacted his numbers.
Unfortunately for Berard, finding it harder to generate points has not been something that has been restricted to just the AHL level. He’s also scoreless through his 11 NHL games played this season across an average of 10:59 time on ice per game. Berard last played in the NHL on Dec. 15, skating 10:24 time on ice in the team’s 4-1 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
With the Rangers’ forward corps dinged by some notable absences at this point in time, there’s an opportunity available for Berard to seize at the NHL level. Seeing as he’s playing out the final year of his entry-level deal, the NHL opportunity in front of Berard afforded by today’s recall is an important one.
Rangers’ J.T. Miller Out Week-To-Week
12/22/25: The Rangers dropped their first game since Miller’s injury by a 2-1 score to the Nashville Predators yesterday, but after the game The Athletic’s Vince Z. Mercogliano provided some additional reporting on Miller’s status. He wrote that Miller is out “with a suspected right-shoulder injury” and cited a league source who “stressed [Miller would] be back before the Olympic break in February and available to play for Team USA if selected.”
That’s something that was indicated yesterday in the original coverage of Miller’s injury, but today it’s only been further underscored that Miller’s availability for the upcoming Olympic tournament does not appear to be in much doubt.
What appears to be in a little bit more doubt is Miller’s odds of selection for the tournament, rather than his chances of being healthy. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh covered the topic last week, listing Miller at the time as “likely” to be selected, adding that the fact that Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan is also the Rangers head coach “certainly doesn’t hurt his chances.”
12/21/25: The injuries continue to pile up for the New York Rangers. Captain J.T. Miller is expected to miss a few weeks with an upper-body injury sustained on Saturday, per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The injury occured on a reverse hit from Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler that seemed to catch Miller near his right shoulder. Despite the multi-week timeline, the Rangers aren’t concerned that this injury will effect Miller’s availability for the Winter Olympics. That’s great news, as he’s sure to be a prime option to assume a center role in Team USA’s bottom-six.
Miller has helped buoy the offense in the wake of injury to defenseman Adam Fox and illness to star winger Artemi Panarin. The captain has four points in his last five games and 22 points in 35 games this season. He ranks fourth on the Rangers in scoring behind Panarin, Fox, and Mika Zibanejad. Panarin returned to the lineup on Saturday, though Fox is still on the mend. That will continue the rotating door of star injuries in New York, who will have to now lean on Panarin and Zibanejad to boost a Rangers offense that has only scored two goals in their last three games.
Miller’s Olympic availability will be a central story as he recovers from this new injury. He played in all four games at the 2025 Four-Nations Face-Off but didn’t manage any scoring. That was just the first time that Miller has joined USA’s Men’s team for an international tournament – though he did play one game with Team North America at the 2017 World Cup, with no scoring. The 32-year-old center has been an electric scorer in the NHL, though, with 354 points in 314 games since 2022. That includes a 99-point season and a career-high 103-point season, both recorded during his six years with the Vancouver Canucks. He is now back where he started his career, and will look to rise back to that point-per-game scoring on the other side of an end-of-year injury.
Rangers’ Artemi Panarin Out, Adam Fox Returns To Practice
The New York Rangers will be without both of their stars up front in Thursday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues. On top of an injury to top defender Adam Fox, the Rangers will also be without top winger Artemi Panarin, who is out with an illness per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Fox, who has missed the last eight games with a shoulder injury, did make his return to practice in a non-contact jersey on Thursday per Baugh.
Missing their top two skaters will only pull the Rangers lower. New York has struggled with Fox on the shelf, posting a 3-3-2 record and 17-to-24 goal differential in his absence. Panarin has been the heart of the offense in those games, with eight points – all scored at even-strength – and over 21 minutes of average ice time. Without him, New York will be forced to lean on Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, who both have two goals and six points in the last eight games. Zibanajed will have a little extra motivation to perform, after being scratched in New York’s Tuesday loss to the Vancouver Canucks for disciplinary reasons.
Despite a tough game ahead, the Rangers’ struggles shouldn’t carry on for too long. Panarin should return to a top-line role when New York returns home on Saturday. Fox could be shortly behind him. He’ll have six games left to return before December ends. The return of the former Norris Trophy winner should quickly bring the Rangers back to life. Fox was riding a six-game scoring streak prior to his injury – netting 10 points, all assists, in that span. New York had an 8-7-0 record and 44-to-42 goal differential throughout November, leaning heavily on both Panarin and Fox.
New York Rangers Make Multiple Roster Moves
In dire need of offense, the New York Rangers have recalled a pair of forward prospects to the NHL level. The Rangers announced they’ve recalled Gabriel Perreault and Brennan Othmann to the team, and have reassigned Brett Berard and Jaroslav Chmelar in a corresponding roster move.
Perreault, 20, was the 23rd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft from the United States National Team Development Program. He already has eight NHL appearances to his name, but only one assist to show for.
Still, Perreault has dominated at every level he’s played at. Spending his two post-draft seasons with the Boston College Eagles, Perreault scored 35 goals and 108 points in 73 games over his tenure. This season, with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, Perreault has scored 10 goals and 17 points in 20 games. Although the production is only good for 12th in the AHL among rookies, Perreault is currently leading the Wolf Pack.
Meanwhile, Othmann, 22, has remained with the organization after being the subject of trade speculation shortly after the 2025-26 season began. Despite being the 16th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, he’s only managed 26 games with the Rangers, tallying two assists. His frustration with the organization likely stemmed from his lack of opportunity in the NHL and his limited usage once he was there, averaging 9:58 of ice time in those 26 contests.
Regardless of the trade rumors, he’s remained relatively productive in the AHL. This season, he has scored four goals and 10 points in 19 games with a -7 rating. Before the current campaign, he had scored 33 goals and 69 points in 94 contests.
Bedard, 23, returns to the Wolf Pack after spending all of his time with the Rangers since American Thanksgiving. The Providence, RI native registered one assist in 11 games before his demotion, averaging 10:59 of ice time.
Lastly, Chmelar returns to Hartford, where he’s scored three goals and 11 points in 19 games this season. The 6’4″, 227 lbs winger is in his second professional season, and has skated in six games with New York this year.
There’s no guarantee that either Perreault or Othmann will provide the fix for New York’s stagnant offense. They have already broken a record this year, becoming the first team to be shut out six times through their first 17 home games.
Latest On Matt Rempe, Mika Zibanejad
The New York Rangers activated forward Matt Rempe off of long-term injured reserve today, according to the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. Per Walker, head coach Mike Sullivan said that Rempe would be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
Rempe has been out since Oct. 23 with an upper-body injury, one he suffered during an early-season contest against the San Jose Sharks. The 23-year-old has missed 18 straight games due to the injury.
Rempe had one goal for one point through nine games played in 2025-26 before his injury, and was playing a limited role. Sullivan had been deploying Rempe as a fourth-line grinder, giving him just under 10 minutes of ice time per game. Rempe also got a look as a net-front player on the Rangers’ second power play unit, but was taken off and did not receive any power play time in the final three games he played before his injury.
Getting Rempe back from injured reserve will provide the Rangers with an added level of physicality for their bottom-six. While Jaroslav Chmelar is big and physical as well, few in the NHL are as physically imposing as Rempe, who stands 6’9″, 261 pounds. Rempe is under contract through the end of next season at a one-way, $975K rate, and will be an RFA with arbitration rights once his deal expires, unless the team elects to extend him before that point.
Shifting gears to a Rangers forward with significantly more experience and a significantly higher cap hit, Mika Zibanejad will not play tonight against the Ducks as he missed a team meeting, and will therefore be a healthy scratch. (per The Athletic’s Vince Z. Mercogliano) While Sullivan did acknowledge that “there are logistical challenges the city presents” that contributed to Zibanejad’s mistake, he emphasized the importance of maintaining team rules.
Zibanejad, 32, is one of the Rangers’ key veteran players. With nearly 1,000 games played to his name, Zibanejad has been a steady top-six center with sporadic periods of star-level play in New York. While his production and overall impact isn’t quite where it was during his peak as a Ranger, Zibanejad still has 25 points in 33 games this season.
Without Zibanejad tonight, the Rangers will shift J.T. Miller back to the center position. Miller played right wing during the team’s overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.