This has been a different type of stretch — in a different kind of season — for Adam Fox.
He missed his first extended run of games (10) due to a lower-body injury and was introduced to life on long-term injured reserve.
And despite recording seven assists in seven games since his return, Fox has tried to simplify everything.
His normal expectations for offensive contributions might not align with the reality of instincts that need to get their “feeling back.”
“Any time you take some time off, you’re stepping onto a moving train,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said Wednesday. “Some nights, the train moves faster than other nights. On the quick nights, it really gets going. I do see him getting better and more confident, even as the game went on [Tuesday].”
In a way, Fox said, it’s almost like the start of a season. He missed less than a month. There were only 10 games without one of the Blueshirts’ primary defensemen on the top pairing and the top power-play unit.
Still, it would take time to re-acclimate.
Fox recorded the secondary assist on Mika Zibanejad’s power-play goal in the second period of the Rangers’ 7-3 loss to the Maple Leafs, pushing possession from the boards toward the net before sliding a pass to Artemi Panarin.
He’ll play defense first. He’ll let the forwards handle the offense, though the seven assists brought his point total to 18 in 17 games.
And that’s a different approach for the 2021 Norris Trophy winner, who has compiled 74 and 72 points across the past two seasons.
He doesn’t want to mess up any rhythm. Instead, he’ll gradually let the different reads — when to jump in offensively, when to stay back — materialize naturally.
“You don’t want to be an idiot out there at first when you come back,” Fox said Tuesday night, “and be jumping in and that’s not the right time.”
K’Andre Miller (personal reasons), Chris Kreider (maintenance) and Blake Wheeler (maintenance) didn’t practice Wednesday in Tarrytown.
When asked if he knew when Miller, who didn’t play against the Maple Leafs, would return, Laviolette said he’s “gonna leave that alone” as a personal situation.
With Kreider and Wheeler both off, Zibanejad rotated onto the Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere line at practice.
Filip Chytil, on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury sustained Nov. 2, has continued skating on his own, Laviolette said.
Kaapo Kakko (lower-body) hasn’t started skating since exiting the Blueshirts’ game Nov. 27 and getting placed on LTIR. Laviolette didn’t have an updated timetable for either of their returns.
“Nothing that’s really changed in the last couple days,” Laviolette said. “They’re working. They’re training in different ways, but both improving and getting better.”