Forward Adam Sykora will miss the next four to five months with a lower-body injury after exiting Monday’s game against the Devils, a crushing diagnosis for one of the promising Rangers prospects who could’ve been an early call-up if injuries arose.
Sykora received his first NHL taste at the end of last season and produced three goals and four points across 11 games. He was skating as part of the Rangers AHL group throughout the start of training camp — with Tye Kartye as the left winger on the fourth line, with Matt Rempe and Jaroslav Chmelar mostly rotating on the right side — but had positioned himself to factor into the Blueshirts’ plans during the season.
“It’s real disappointing,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I feel for him. He’s such a great kid. He brings so much energy and enthusiasm to the rink. I thought he was having a real strong camp to this point. It’s disappointing, but we’ll get better — and we’ll do everything we can to help him get back in the most timely fashion. He’ll be back in the mix.”
That outlook changed, at least until the end of January, 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 2022 who impressed with energetic play during his Rangers cameo, 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 collected 12 goals and 29 points in 62 games last season with AHL Hartford. When the Rangers used a lineup mostly filled with AHL players at Prudential Center, Sykora skated on the first line alongside Justin Dowling and Juuso Parssinen.
Adam Sykora (38) of the Rangers is injured during the first period of a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey. Getty Images
Rangers’ Adam Sykora (38) skates back to the bench after being injured in the first period of a Rangers-Devils pre-season hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. Bill Kostroun for NY Post
With Kartye at left wing on the fourth line and either Rempe, Chmelar or even Taylor Raddysh on the right to start, the Rangers didn’t have any immediate need for Sykora at the NHL level. But his absence could lead to opportunities for other organizational depth pieces if the Blueshirts need help during the season before he returns.
The Rangers spent a portion of practice Wednesday with the NHL group working on the penalty kill, but two mainstays from that unit last season — J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad — remained with the top power-play line the whole time. Part of that, Sullivan said, stemmed from the pair of centers already knowing the system.
But Sullivan also expressed a desire to lower their minutes — while acknowledging that they’ll still help kill penalties throughout the season — to “have the ability to get a better version of them.”
“My experience has been, if you put those players, you put your top guys — they’re first over the boards in every situation, power play, penalty kill, top six,” Sullivan said, “it adds up to north of 20 minutes every single night. … That’s not to say that they’re not gonna be a part of it. They certainly are. But we’d like to lessen their load a little bit there.”
Jonathan Quick, who retired after last season as the winningest American-born goaltender in NHL history and was hired as the Rangers’ director of goaltending development, was on the ice Tuesday with the coaching staff.
During his press conference, Sullivan joked, “Did you see me introduce Coach Quick out there today? His first day on the dark side.”
Defenseman Vincent Iorio, who also left the preseason opener early, is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. … Goaltender Spencer Martin, who took over for Igor Shesterkin in the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Islanders, was placed on waivers. … Juuso Parssinen, Justin Dowling, Dennis Cholowski, Urho Vaakanainen and Bryce McConnell-Barker cleared waivers and were assigned to the Wolf Pack.