Morning Skate Updates: Kaliyev Out for Season, Pärssinen In, Othmann Scratched

We have a number of updates from the Rangers morning skate as they prepare to host the Calgary Flames tonight. As expected, it has been announced that Arthur Kaliyev will miss the remainder of the regular season as well as any potential postseason games with what is being labelled as an upper-body injury.

Kaliyev last played for the Rangers in Winnipeg seven nights ago where Ken Wiebe, one of the beat writers for the Jets, noted that Kaliyev took a big hit from Luke Schenn that agitated his shoulder. 

As we noted previously, this is a bit concerning seeing as Kaliyev missed the majority of the season as a result of a broken clavicle. His 14 games with the Rangers will go down as the only games he played this season. Unfortunate seeing as he was able to find the back of the net three times across that short window. 

While the Rangers did not specify what the injury is, seeing as they almost never do, we can’t say for sure that it’s related to his previous injuries. However, knowing that it’s upper-body and the result of a hit where his shoulder area was what made contact with the boards first is definitely not an encouraging sign. 

Kaliyev will be a restricted free agent this summer and another major injury, mixed with a surplus of winger depth, could not only jeopardize his future with the Rangers, but could make finding a new contract a bit more challenging. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and a full off-season of recovery works in his favor. All the best to Kaliyev moving forward.

In addition to that, it also appears that Jusso Pärssinen will make his return to the lineup which in itself is fine. Unfortunately, as Laviolette has famously mentioned in the past, you can only dress 18 skaters so someone has to come out. That someone this time around appears to be Brennan Othmann who has been apart of one of the Rangers' best looking lines as of late.

Despite being held goalless in his eleven games with the Rangers this season, Othmann has been noticeable in a limited role. While there is certainly chemistry with his fellow Wolf Pack alum in Jonny Brodzinski and Matt Rempe, you have to wonder what he could do in a bigger role. For now, all you can do is wonder seeing as he is the latest young Ranger to fall out of the deck shuffle that is Laviolette's nightly lineup.

Brett Berard is also affected by this as he gets bumped down to the fourth line as Jusso Pärssinen will slot in on the right wing of the third line with Sam Carrick and Chris Kreider. Other than that, expect the rest of the lineup to look the same.