You’ve got to hand it to Braden Schneider. The New York Rangers defenseman cut right to the chase Monday when asked about his increased responsibility, with teammate Adam Fox on LTIR with an upper-body injury.
“It’s an opportunity to step up and see if I can’t put the big boy pants on and do a job for us,” Schneider stated after practice.
Schneider bumped up from the third defense pair to take Fox’s spot on the No. 1 pair with Vladislav Gavrikov during practice Monday. Fox is out for at least 10 games, per the rules of being on LTIR, leaving a massive hole in the Rangers lineup for at least this month, if not longer.