Bobby Bevilacqua

Kevin Klein will be out for 3-4 weeks after breaking his arm in Wednesday’s win over the Capitals. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Late in last night’s game, Kevin Klein was hit in the arm on a long Alex Ovechkin slap shot, causing him to drop to the ice in immediate discomfort. He left the game with less than a minute remaining, and received X-Rays before flying home.

Unfortunately, the Rangers received some bad news today, learning that Kevin Klein will be out for at least 3 to 4 weeks according to a press release from the Rangers.

Kevin Klein was in the midst of arguably his best season as a pro, already setting career highs in goals (9) and points (26), as well as a career best +24 – tied with Rick Nash for sixth best in the entire NHL.

Up until this point, Klein had appeared in all but one of the Rangers 66 games this season, proving to be a reliable player on the backend. His booming slap shot and ability to score timely goals (4 game winners), will be sorely missed in the linep.

In his absence, Matt Hunwick will take his place. Hunwick has played in 40 games so far this season, and has eight assists. He’s proven to be a reliable defenseman, and is a pretty good puck mover, so he will be just fine filling in.

Matt Hunwick will have to step up and take the place of Kevin Klein for the rest of the regular season. Hunwick has eight assists in 40 games. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

This creates quite a few problems for the Rangers. First off, the Rangers are losing one of their key penalty killers, as Klein is usually paired with Marc Staal on the kill. He’s also been quite clutch for the Rangers, scoring timely goals, and is a solid bottom to mid pairing defenseman.

Alain Vigneault usually likes to have seven healthy defenseman on the roster, but due to cap issues and restrictions, the Rangers are not able to call up anyone as a seventh defensemen will mean that this group will need to stay healthy.

Despite what the fancy stat people may tell you, Klein is a very steady defenseman who may not have the best Corsi stats in the world, he plays above average defense and has added a nice touch of offense to his game. His aggressive nature, willingness to block shots and clutch nature will be missed in the Rangers lineup. However, I do believe that Matt Hunwick can slot in nicely and do a good job.

The season ends four weeks from Saturday, so that means that Klein could miss the rest of the regular season. The Rangers are hoping that he comes back in time for what the team is hoping will be a long playoff run.