Ryan McDonagh out indefinitely with right hand injury

The New York Rangers will be without captain Ryan McDonagh for the next three games and possibly beyond.

On Tuesday, the team announced McDonagh is out indefinitely with an upper body injury and won’t dress in their three remaining regular season games. According to the New York Post, the minute-crunching blueliner broke a bone in his right hand blocking a Brandon Dubinsky shot during a Monday game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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The story said, “while McDonagh is not expected to be sidelined longterm, he very well could miss the first few games of the (playoffs) opening round …”

The Daily News also referred to McDonagh’s issue as a right hand injury. 

Losing McDonagh for any postseason time would be a big blow to New York. He averages 22:21 of ice-time per-game, most amongst all Rangers players. This includes 2:38 of shorthanded ice-time per-game and 1:55 on the power play per-game.

McDonagh suffered a head injury in early-February and missed four games. In late February he suffered a jaw injury off a hit by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov. 

The Rangers currently have 97 points, two ahead of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders have one game in hand.

If the Rangers finished third, they’ll face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first-round of the postseason. If they drop into the Wild Card, they’ll draw either the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning in the first-round.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper