Captain Chris Drury went and saw a hand specialist yesterday and will likely miss 3-4 weeks as originally reported – four weeks at most according to a quote from this morning’s NY Post. The good news is that he won’t require surgery, nor will he need a cast – unless he manages to damage it further over the next coming days.

In the mean time, several Rangers are re-evaluating their chances with the team in his absence. The general consensus amongst the beat writers today – including Jesse Spector of the Daily News and Steve Zipay of Newsday – is that Artem Anisimov and Erik Christensen have locked up spots, and that Brian Boyle, Tim Kennedy, Derek Stepan and Todd White are battling it out for the final spot.

All four have received favorable comments from Tortorella this week, though Stepan – who will center Alex Frolov and Marian Gaborik in the first preseason game, and Tim Kennedy have been pushing the envelope with their offensive presence during the scrimmages.

The coach has declared the veteran White fit after he battled through a shoulder injury last season, though interestingly enough the training staff suggested that he be held out of tomorrow’s game as a precaution.

For his part, Boyle is reportedly skating significantly better after a summer of skating lessons, and also got encouragement for his pick up in physical play during camp. Entering his fourth NHL season, the 25 year old knows he’s fighting for a job, but will take whatever’s on offer, not just a fourth line center spot.

Brandon Dubinsky is busy working on playing at left wing, and while he appears to be towing the company line – Tortorella has stated clearly that he thinks Dubinsky is better suited to wing – it sounds like he still hopes to move back to center at some point, as reported by Andrew Gross of the Bergen Record.

Preseason Kicks Off Tomorrow
The Rangers officially kick off their preseason schedule tomorrow with a 1:00pm game between the Rangers Prospects and Devils Prospects over at the Devils’ Newark based practice facility. The game will not be open to the public, and will include Evgeny Grachev in the Rangers’ line-up after injuries to Andrew Yogan and Ethan Werek cut down the available roster.

The rest of the team gets into action at 7:00pm, to be televised on MSG. The Devils have indicated that Zach Parise, Martin Brodeur and Ilya Kovalchuk will all dress, while the Rangers line-up is reported to be the following:

Forwards
Derek Boogaard
Brian Boyle
Erik Christensen
Brandon Dubinsky
Ruslan Fedotenko
Alexander Frolov
Marian Gaborik
Tim Kennedy
Derek Stepan
Brandon Prust
Dale Weise
Mats Zuccarello Aasen

Defense
Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh
Michal Rozsival
Michael Sauer
Alexei Semenov
Marc Staal

Goaltenders
Martin Biron
Chad Johnson

On starting Biron in goal, Tortorella said he wanted him to get used to the atmosphere

White Beats Blue 6-1
In the final scrimmage before the preseason, the White team lead by Henrik Lundqvist beat up on the Blue team backstopped by Martin Biron. Biron let in four goals during the first period, including two goals by Ryan Callahan. the Blue team also got goals from Kris Newbury, Artem Anisimov, Michael Sauer and Brandon Dubinsky. Dale Weise registered the lone goal for the White team.

First Cuts Expected Thursday
Tortorella expects to make 22-26 cuts after tomorrow’s preseason game and more cuts Sunday. The Rangers roster currently figures to be 61, though with Andrew Yogan out for much of the season, it’s effectively at 60. The Rangers must get down to 23 by the end of camp, but could go as low as 20.

One of those soon to be going back will be 2010 first round pick Dylan McIlrath, by the looks of things it’ll be tomorrow after the prospects game.

Injury Update
Yogan successful underwent surgery today on his shoulder, and will now begin a 3-4 month recovery and rehabilitation period in the hopes of returning to action mid-way through the season.

Ethan Werek has missed the last two days with an undisclosed leg injury, and is not expected to participate in any games tomorrow.

Steve Eminger sat out today’s scrimmages with a sore groin, from what I can gather it’s nothing serious, more precautionary.

Wade Redden also missed training camp today to be with his wife who is expecting to deliver shortly.

Quote of the Day
just the competition at the positions, the quickness, the ability, I think its improved. Im not sure what this team is going to be as far as whos on it. I feel more comfortable with the players and I think they feel more comfortable with us. They know what to expect. I think were comfortable with how were going to play. I think thats going to be an easier transition for us this year so I feel good about it. Ive just got a good feeling in my gut. I think camp has gone very well so far.