Iorio and Sykora Join a List That Keeps Growing

Two more names landed on the injury list Monday — Vincent Iorio and Adam Sykora — and at this point the Rangers are adding players faster than the preseason can sort out who's actually available. That's four players unavailable in roughly the last week, with Matt Rempe still on injured reserve since late July and Aidan Thompson already ruled out. Cole Beaudoin, the OHL prospect acquired mid-camp, is day-to-day. The roster that was supposed to spend September integrating new pieces is spending it managing a casualty report.

The timing matters because this team's entire offseason argument rests on a specific premise: that the defensive tightening from last April is real and repeatable. The numbers through the preseason suggest it might be — goals allowed are trending down from where they were a month ago. But that improvement depends on depth players filling roles cleanly. When the depth players are the ones getting hurt, the math gets harder.

I noted in the camp-opening piece that the blue line already had a significant drop-off behind Durzi, with the backup situation thin by any measure. The forward group has similar fragility — Raddysh has been absorbing nearly four extra minutes a night recently, which is the depth chart doing the work that injured players can't. That's sustainable for a week; it's a problem if October arrives with the same list.

The season opener isn't here yet, so there's time. But the Rangers lost their preseason debut 3–2 to the Islanders on Sunday, and the injury picture hasn't simplified since. Sullivan and Drury rebuilt this roster to withstand a hard season. They may need it to withstand camp first.