With Artemi Panarin listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, his status for the Rangers' first game of the regular season is in question.
The New York Rangers have been struggling with injuries all training camp long.
Both Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey are expected to be out for a few weeks as all signs are pointing towards them missing the season opener on Oct. 9 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The latest culprit to land on the injury list is Artemi Panarin who sustained a lower-body injury during Tuesday night’s preseason game.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette confirmed that Panarin is just day-to-day, but his wording about his timeline for return was interesting.
"It's an evaluation," Laviolette said. "Right now, he's day-to-day."
While Laviolette didn’t seem overly concerned, the fact that he said that Panarin is day-to-day “right now” leads to some questions.
Why did Laviolette say right now? Will Panarin even be ready for the start of the regular season that is set to begin in less than a week?
That is all still unclear at the moment. The 32-year-old superstar missed practice on Thursday and will almost certainly not play in New York’s final preseason game on Friday night.
Laviolette threw out the word precautionary when discussing Panarin’s injury, which is the right approach given that the year hasn’t even begun yet.
Panarin has had to exit two preseason games early due to a lower-body injury.
Whether or not Panarin misses opening night or not, this injury doesn't look like it’s that serious and he should be back in no time.
