John Dundon

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault revealed yesterday that his 23-year-old defenseman will be out in the vicinity of “a couple of weeks” with a right knee injury.

Mcilrath sustained an injury on a clean hit in the first period of Monday night’s meeting with the rival New York Islanders and did not return. Thankfully this is not the same knee that Mcilrath injured in 2012, when he dislocated his kneecap at Rangers development camp, an injury that required surgery. That injury set Mcilrath back.

The former 10^th overall pick has appeared in just over 30 games for the Blueshirts this season and has filled in efficiently when called upon, quelling a lot of doubters. Mcilrath is assumed to be pegged into filling the void Dan Boyle will leave after his contract expires next season. The good news is Mcilrath is expected to make a relatively quick recovery and should be back in time for the playoffs and beyond with no limitations.

Brady Skjei was called up in time for the Rangers 4-2 win at Buffalo. Vigneault said that Marc Staal’s availability would determine when Skjei gets sent back to Hartford as the Rangers don’t have the cap space to carry more than seven defensemen on the roster.

Since both Skjei and Hellberg were just emergency call-ups, they were sent back down to Hartford this morning. Both can be brought right back up again if needed for this weekend, but this is a good sign as to the availability of Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist.