Derek Stepan suffers apparent leg injury during on-ice conditioning test
The Rangers took the ice for on-ice conditioning tests, but lost a player due to an apparent injury.
A year ago, Derek Stepan missed virtually all of preseason due to a contract holdout. And while Stepan appeared ready to go this year when it came to the year's preparations, he's been sidelined after taking a shot off the foot during informal skates, causing an injury that's lingered into the actual preseason schedule.
And while that injury wasn't supposed to be serious, the update today on Stepan is, as he fell to the ice during the team's on-ice conditioning drills, and needed to be helped off.
Derek Stepan hard to the ice during conditioning test, helped off clutching left knee/leg. Audibly and visibly in pain.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) September 24, 2014 Stepan had been held out of scrimmage and game with what team called left foot "contusion" and X-rays negative
— Steve Zipay (@stevezipay) September 24, 2014 As Larry Brooks of the New York Post pointed out, the injury occurred without any contact or a collision, which certainly makes the situation a bit more worrisome.
Stepan helped off ice after going down, clutching left leg/knee, during #NYR conditioning test. No contact, simply fell to ice...
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) September 24, 2014 It's unclear whether this latest injury is related to the foot problem Stepan was battling, and the team has yet to provide an update. We'll continue to update the situation as more information becomes available.
