The New York Rangers have been forced to make a few changes to their lineup already this season, with two players from their Opening Night roster suffering injuries.
Goalie Joonas Korpisalo landed in the IR with a mysterious lower-body injury just a few days after the season-opening loss to the Boston Bruins. Even head coach Mike Sullivan wasn't sure when the injury occurred.
Joining him a few days later on the sidelines was center Joe Veleno . He went down in the first period against the Utah Mammoth with a lower-body injury of his own and was subsequently placed on the IR.
During the team's most recent practice ahead of their game against the Washington Capitals, head coach Mike Sullivan provided updates on both injured players. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most encouraging news.
Sep 24, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers forward Joe Veleno (90) during the game against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
According to Sullivan, via Mollie Walker of the New York Post on X, neither player has resumed skating yet. No further update was provided on when they could return to the team, which means it will continue to be Dylan Garand as the No. 2 goalie behind Igor Shesterkin and Cole Beaudoin in the lineup for Veleno for the time being.
Beaudoin, a 2024 first-round pick who was acquired from the Mammoth in the Vincent Trocheck trade this summer, had an excellent debut . New York hopes he can keep that up because having to replace Veleno, the No. 4 center in the lineup, was no small task.
The organizational pipeline down the middle was by far the weakest of any position for the Rangers. Losing any center from the NHL lineup was going to be troublesome. With limited depth, hopefully Veleno can return to the mix soon.
As for Koprisalo, he too was acquired in an offseason trade, coming over from the Boston Bruins. His landing on the IR is a peculiar one without any straightforward answers or explanation.
Had he been suffering from something for a few days, New York could have just placed him on IR when cutting their training camp roster down for the regular season instead of placing goalie Dylan Garand on waivers and risking losing him.
Luckily, Garand cleared waivers, just as defenseman Matthew Robertson did when a roster spot was needed for Beaudoin. It was a fortunate turn of events for the Rangers because Garand quickly proved he is an NHL-caliber player.
In his 2026-27 season debut, he recorded a shutout against the Detroit Red Wings as the team was on the second night of a back-to-back set after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/rangers/onsi as NY Rangers Have Disappointing Joe Veleno, Joonas Korpisalo Updates .
