Forward Adam Sykora will miss the next four-to-five months with a lower-body injury after exiting Monday’s game against the Devils. Defenseman Vincent Iorio, who also left the preseason opener early, is day-to-day.
Sykora’s injury serves as a crushing injury blow to one of the Blueshirts’ promising prospects, who received his first taste of the NHL at the end of last season and produced three goals and four points across 11 games.
He was skating with the Rangers’ AHL group throughout the start of training camp, but Sykora had positioned himself as a call-up option for the Blueshirts if injuries arose during the season.
But that outlook changed, at least for the first portion of the season, when the 22-year-old skated around the corner and absorbed a crushing hit from Devils defenseman Mikael Diotte.
Sykora, a second-round pick in 2023, fell awkwardly into the boards and ended up hobbling off the ice with help from Anton Blidh, Liam Greentree and a trainer after initially trying to crawl his way over.
In addition to his four points at the NHL level, he also collected 12 goals and 29 points in 62 games last season with AHL Hartford.
