The New York Rangers have decided to play the side of caution rather than jeopardize their young and talented defenseman Marc Staal by sitting him out through training camp scrimmages and pre-season. Though the 24 year old Thunder Bay, Ontario was cleared for play after he passed baseline tests last season and heading into this week’s pre-season, Staal has shown signs of a possible post-concussion headache symptoms through training camp thus far.
"He can skate, he's cleared for contact, everything's all set. We just want to hold him back a little bit and try to clear it up and get him ready for the regular season," head coach John Tortorella said.
Staal will reportedly sit out through all scrimmages and North American pre-season games, but will likely participate in the European matches of a friendlier game setting, giving him some time to get his game refined before opening up the regular season against the Los Angelis Kings in Stockholm, Sweden on October 7th.
The hit that caused the damage was oddly enough his big brother, Eric Staal, in the Rangers 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on February 22nd. On the same hit, Marc suffered a knee injury, collectively costing the kid brother five games.
Tortorella is adamant this is all precautionary, giving the state of the NHL and the affects concussions have had on the league recently.
"We just want to be smart with a very big part of our puzzle," Tortorella said.
Staal recorded 7 goals and 22 assists with for 29 points and a +8 rating while notching 50 penalty minutes. Through four seasons with the Rangers he has played in 321 games recording 20 goals and 81 points with a +14 rating. He was drafted 12th overall by the Rangers in 2005, and is a major part of the Rangers’ plans for the future.
- Kendall Grubbs
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