Joseph Veleno is headed to injured reserve, handing Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers an early blow to their forward depth.
The timing stings. Veleno was brought in during the offseason to give Sullivan another experienced option down the middle and deeper in the lineup. Marqueur.com
Instead, the Rangers now have to adjust before Veleno gets a real chance to settle into his new surroundings.
Putting him on IR also removes a player who was supposed to create competition for bottom-six minutes and give the coaching staff more flexibility with its combinations.
There is no need to overstate Veleno's role. He wasn't acquired to carry the top six, but these are exactly the players teams miss when injuries start thinning out a roster.
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And for Chris Drury, the move immediately chips away at some of the depth assembled during the offseason. Marqueur.com
Rangers lose an offseason depth piece
Veleno gave New York another natural center option, something that matters when Sullivan needs to shuffle lines, cover an absence or change the look of his bottom six.
Now that option is unavailable. Someone else will have to take those minutes, and that creates an opening further down the Rangers' depth chart.
The biggest concern is uncertainty. The roster move confirms Veleno won't be available immediately, but it doesn't provide the Rangers with the luxury of treating him as part of their active rotation.
That puts more pressure on the healthy forwards to hold their spots and gives another player a chance to push onto Sullivan's opening lineup.
For Veleno, the interruption is especially frustrating because joining a new club already comes with an adjustment period. Missing time delays that process with new linemates and a new coaching staff.
For the Rangers, this isn't a headline injury to one of their stars. It's a depth problem, and those can become much more noticeable once the schedule starts demanding quick lineup adjustments.
New York added Veleno to make the roster deeper. Before that depth could be tested on the ice, the Rangers have already lost part of it.
Will Joseph Veleno's absence expose a Rangers depth problem?
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