- Adam Sykora will miss four to five months with a lower-body injury, the Rangers said Wednesday
- The 22-year-old winger got hurt Monday on a hit from Devils defenseman Mikael Diotte
- Read below for video of the hit and what it does to New York’s roster race
Adam Sykora’s push for an opening night job in New York is over before the season starts.
The Rangers said Wednesday that the 22-year-old winger will be out four to five months with a lower-body injury. Beat writer Vince Z. Mercogliano passed along the team’s timeline:
It traces back to Monday night in Newark. Sykora took a firm hit from Devils defenseman Mikael Diotte near the midway point of the first period and went into the boards with his right leg folded underneath him.
Take a look at the sequence:
He needed help from teammates to get off the ice and never came back. His night ended at 2:49 of ice time across four shifts, and the team ruled him out for the rest of the night shortly after:
Four to five months puts his return somewhere between late January and late February. That wipes out the first half of a contract year for a player who was finally getting traction.
New York took Sykora 63rd overall in 2022 out of HK Nitra in Slovakia. He made his NHL debut last season and put up three goals and four points in 11 games, averaging 11:10 a night. With AHL Hartford he posted 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points, the best offensive year of his three in North America.
Sykora is entering the final season of his three-year entry-level deal at a $961,667 cap hit. He had a real case for a bottom-six spot coming out of camp, and preseason games were where he was supposed to make it.
Mike Sullivan has two exhibition games left to sort out his forward group, and he’s doing it without one of the guys who was in the mix. The Rangers open the regular season Sept. 29 in Boston against the Bruins, with the top six already reshuffled from a year ago.
