Rangers taking ‘next man up’ approach on defense with Adam Fox hitting LTIR

Rangers taking ‘next man up’ approach on defense with Adam Fox hitting LTIR

Rangers taking ‘next man up’ approach on defense with Adam Fox hitting LTIR

Rangers taking ‘next man up’ approach on defense with Adam Fox hitting LTIR

For the Rangers, there’s no replacing Adam Fox.

They’ll have to try to do so over the next few weeks, though, as the All-Star defenseman is set to hit long-term IR due to an upper-body injury suffered during the third period of Saturday’s game against the Lightning.

It’s a significant blow for the Blueshirts, but they know they can’t feel sorry for themselves.

“The message is next man up,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “Injuries are part of the game, every team goes through them, we’re no different. Foxy isn’t an easy guy to replace, but we’ll put out a gameplan based on the people we have.”

There’s no exact timeline for Fox’s return, but he’s being labeled as week-to-week.

Sullivan says they’ll replace his minutes by a committee, but based on Monday’s practice, Braden Schneider is expected to receive the first look alongside Vladislav Gavrikov on the top pairing.

It’s a tall-task for the 24-year-old, but one he feels ready for.

“It sucks seeing Adam go down,” Schneider said. “But it’s an opportunity to step up and see if I can put the big boy pants on and do a job -- I’ll do my best to play the game I know how to, and hopefully we can get some wins.”

Fox’s absence also presents an opportunity for 23-year-old Scott Morrow to receive an extended look in the lineup.

Morrow was skating alongside Matthew Robertson on the third pairing in practice.

And there will be no easing in for this new-look defensive core, as they'll immediately be put to the test in a meeting with the high-powered Stars on home ice on Tuesday night.

Dallas are winners of four straight, and currently hold the second-best record in the league.

“That’s a talented group,” Schneider said. “They’ve been a playoff team and have been close to winning a lot of times. They play fast and can score a lot of goals, we have to make sure we’re being the aggressor and take it to them.”