Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Its been a long season for the New York Rangers, recently injuries have been the main topic and today was no different for Pavel Buchnevich.

As the New York Rangers took the ice for practice Friday, one Ranger was noticeably absent—Pavel Buchnevich. While the team announced the reason for his absence as an “upper body” injury, Larry Brooks of the New York Post had the real scoop.

Buchnevich suffered the injury early in the second period of Thursday night’s 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs after colliding with the Leafs’ Jake Gardiner. The incident occurred at center ice as Buchnevich caught Gardiner’s elbow in the jaw. He dropped to the ice immediately and never made it back to the bench, heading to the locker room immediately. No penalty was called on the play.

The third-round pick (75th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft has appeared in 50 games this season, scoring 13 goals with 19 assists for 32 points. He had averaged 14:42 minutes on the ice per game. Most of these numbers are low due to the ongoing difficulties he has had with head coach Alain Vigneault, who has limited the 22-year-old’s minutes at times and demoted him to fourth-line duty more than once.

Injuries have taken their toll on the club this season. In December it was announced that Chris Kreider would be out of the lineup due to a blood clot in his right arm. He had rib resection surgery in January and will be out indefinitely. Kevin Shattenkirk has been battling a torn meniscus all season and had surgery for that injury last week. He too is out indefinitely.

Having three starting players out of the lineup due to injury as the Rangers are trying to battle their way back into a playoff position makes reaching that goal even more difficult than it would be with a healthy roster.

But with the way this season has gone for the Blueshirts, none of this should be surprising. The hockey gods aren’t going to make anything easy for the Rangers in 2017-18.

A graduate of St. John's University class of '91. I have been a fan of the New York Rangers since the days of Peter Puck. Founder of Ranger Proud, the Facebook page that covers all news, notes, pre /post-game stats, and player quotes. I can be reached at [email protected]