NY Rangers projected lineup: Sammy Blais done for the season with torn ACL

TARRYTOWN - The New York Rangers have been dealt their worst injury blow so far in the 2021-22 season.

Sammy Blais has torn his right ACL, a person close to the situation confirmed to lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network.

"You feel really bad for the kid," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said Tuesday. "It's a tough injury. He's with a new team and new teammates, and he's starting to get adjusted and playing better hockey, and then that happened."

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The season-ending injury occurred during the third period of Sunday's 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, with an MRI on Monday confirming the Rangers' fears. He appeared to get tripped by Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, who extended his right leg and clipped Blais as they chased down a puck in the corner.

The 25-year-old forward was acquired, along with a 2022 second-round pick, in the July trade that sent forward Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues.

He collected four assists in 14 games played this season while averaging 13:28 time on ice per game and ranking third on the team with 37 hits. He also had the highest goals-for percentage on the team (62.26%), according to Evolving Hockey, with the Rangers averaging 2.94 goals per 60 minutes at even strength while he was on the ice and allowing only 1.78.

"I feel horrible for the guy," forward Barclay Goodrow said. "His physicality (and) his compete level is what we all want to play like. It’s what I think our group has been striving to be. He's one of the hardest hitters I've ever seen, to be honest. He's a guy that D-men don't want to play against and that's kind of infectious throughout the group. It's a big hole to fill, but we'll get it done as a group."

While Blais is out until next season, the Rangers are expecting to get Filip Chytil back from his upper-body injury for Tuesday's 7 p.m. home game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The 22-year-old forward hasn't played since Nov. 6, but has been skating for close to a week and participated in Tuesday's morning skate at the MSG Training Center.

"We're guessing he's going to be cleared for tonight," Gallant said.

Chytil, who has three points (two goals and one assist) in 12 games played this season, will re-assume his role as third-line center. Goodrow played there in his absence, but Gallant indicated the 28-year-old veteran will move up to take Blais' right-wing spot on the top line next to Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

"Is it temporary? Is it 10 games? I don’t know," Gallant said of the lineup choices. "We’ll see. We’ll take it one game at a time, just like with the goaltenders and anything else."

The third line will consist of Chytil centering Alexis Lafrenière and Julien Gauthier, with the latter suddenly becoming a critical component for the Rangers.

The organization has committed to allowing disgruntled forward Vitali Kravtsov to finish the season on loan with Traktor in Russia's KHL, a team source confirmed, which rules out the 2018 first-round pick as an option for the next few months. They did recall Greg McKegg from AHL Hartford (again), but he's expected to serve as the extra forward.

That leaves Gauthier as the first man up to fill Blais' void in the top nine. The 24-year-old has registered one assist in six games played this season, while his 4.08 expected-goals against per 60 registers as the worst average on the team.

"I think I've been playing better, offensively and defensively," Gauthier said. "I have a more complete game. And I think my goal right now, it's not really to score. It’s really to earn the coach’s trust so I can get more ice time and eventually things start to get rolling."

NY Rangers projected lineup: Game 16 vs. Canadiens

When: Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.

Where: Madison Square Garden

TV/Radio: MSG Network/98.7 FM

Forwards

First line → Chris Kreider (LW) • Mika Zibanejad (C) • Barclay Goodrow (RW)

Second line → Artemi Panarin (LW) • Ryan Strome (C) • Kaapo Kakko (RW)

Third line → Alexis Lafrenière (LW) • Filip Chytil (C) • Julien Gauthier (RW)

Fourth line → Dryden Hunt (LW) • Kevin Rooney (C) • Ryan Reaves (RW)

Defense

Top pair → Ryan Lindgren (L) • Adam Fox (R)

Second pair → K'Andre Miller (L) • Jacob Trouba (R)

Third pair → Patrik Nemeth (L) • Nils Lundkvist (R)

Goalies

Starter → Igor Shesterkin

Backup → Alexandar Georgiev

Healthy scratches: Greg McKegg (F) and Jarred Tinordi (D)

Injured reserve: Sammy Blais (right ACL)

NOTE: This lineup is subject to change

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.