When Kaapo Kakko left the ice after pre-game warmups ahead of their matchup with the Arizona Coyotes, it came as a bit of a surprise. There was no apparent injury, and we only learned later that he was suffering from a lingering upper-body injury.
The initial diagnosis was that he’d be out for a while, and it’s only been through piecing odd scraps here and there, that we’ve been able to determine that he had surgery on his wrist, and has been able to participate for the past two months. The exact nature of the injury, and whether there have been any complications, has all been kept under wraps, as is the style of the Rangers leadership under Chris Drury and Gerard Gallant.
Vaguely anticipated to return around the NHL trade deadline, the date was pushed back to Early April last week, though no further details were provided. Today we saw our first signs of progress though, with Gallant sharing that both he and Kevin Rooney – who has been out since February 26th with an otherwise undisclosed upper body injury – have been skating on their own, as they start to make their way back to game ready conditioning.
Both players stiill likely have at least two-three weeks worth of work to go, and we won’t really be able to start projecting a return date until they return to team practice in some form or other. Once there, they’ll need to demonstrate that they’re ready to play, not to mention now contending with a much deeper roster they’ll need to break into.
For Kakko, that should be less of an issue, with the young Finn expected to slot back in on one of the top two lines. Rooney though could face a tougher road, with a bottom six that looks a lot deeper than when he left.
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