Rangers All-Star defenseman placed on long-term IR

Fox, 25, left Thursday’s game vs. the Carolina Hurricanes with a lower-body injury and did not return. The injury occurred late in the first period after a knee-on-knee collision with Hurricanes’ forward Sebastian Aho.

New York Post reporter Mollie Walker is also reporting that forward Filip Chytil will be placed on Injured Reserve (IR). He sustained the injury in a collision with Hurricanes’ forward Jesper Fast midway through the first period.

The Rangers have called up goaltender Louis Domingue from the AHL’s Hartford Whalers as a precaution. Igor Shesterkin was apparently a little sore after Thursday’s game, so Jonathan Quick is expected to start on Saturday vs. the Minnesota Wild.

Fox had three goals and eight assists for 11 points through nine games this season, on pace to outscore his career-high 74 points in 2021-22. The 2016 third-round pick of the Calgary Flames had his rights traded to the Hurricanes, then again to the Rangers before he would sign a professional contract in May 2019.

He would score five goals and 42 assists in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, which earned him the Norris Trophy, becoming only the second defenseman in NHL history to win the award before starting his third season.

The last two seasons have seen Fox produce at least 60 assists and 70 points, and he was again nominated for the Norris Trophy in 2022-23.

Chytil, 24, was taken by the Rangers in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He hit career highs across the board in 2022-23, scoring 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points in 74 games. Through 327 career NHL games, he’s produced 64 goals and 74 assists for 138 points.