Rangers Take A Big Hit -- Lose No. 1 Center Derek Stepan To Broken Leg

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It likely won't wreck their season, but it is a major cause for concern.

Top line center Derek Stepan suffered a broken leg during practice on Wednesday and will miss at least a month, the Rangers announced.

Stepan suffered the injury while doing a conditioning drill. It was a non-contact injury, CBS New York contributor Sean Hartnett reported. Skating up ice, Stepan went down and slid before the red line. He grabbed his left leg and had to be helped to the bench by teammates Mats Zuccarello and Martin St. Louis.

Stepan was held out of Monday's preseason opener against the New Jersey Devils with what the team termed a "foot contusion" after getting hit with a shot in the same area back on Sept. 9.

"It is what it is, unfortunately Step got hurt," head coach Alain Vigneault told the team's official website. "He was feeling really good the last 48 hours, had the third X-ray done and everything looked normal and good to go. Then he stepped on the ice and unfortunately got hurt."

The 24-year-old forward and 2014 U.S. Olympian had a career-high 57 points, including 40 assists, last season. Stepan then added 16 points during the Rangers' run to the Stanley Cup Final, which they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.

The injury could be potentially devastating to a Rangers team already very thin down the middle of the ice. After buying out veteran Brad Richards, they really didn't replace him. The Blueshirts currently have centers Derick Brassard, Dominic Moore, J.T. Miller and Matthew Lombardi in camp.

Vigneault sounded Wednesday like he was leaning toward giving Moore additional ice time.

"When this has happened in the past -- when Step went down against Montreal (in the playoffs) and (Brassard) went down -- Dom is a guy who stepped up, so that's definitely in our possibilities, though we have to let this sort out, too," Vigneault said. "I think he's ready to assume a bigger role, and I know that's what he'd like. I do know that when we needed him last year to pick up some ice time he came through for us."

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