Jimmy Vesey left Rangers practice early Sunday after falling to the ice and limping to the dressing room.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said Vesey sustained a lower-body injury and was being evaluated.
“It seemed somewhat harmless,” Laviolette said.
The 31-year-old Vesey is vying to return to his spot on the fourth line, where he spent a majority of the last two seasons.
He was skating on the left of Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe on Sunday before he headed to the locker room.
After serving as a healthy scratch for the first game of last season, Vesey ultimately played in 80 of 82 contests.
He posted 13 goals and 13 assists while logging an average ice time of 12:23 per game.
The Devils were set to travel to Prague on Sunday for a pair of regular-season contests against the Sabres, which should leave a relatively barren lineup to face the Rangers in a home-and-home exhibition series.
While most notable Devils players are expected to play Friday and Saturday at O2 Arena, the rest will face the Rangers on Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s obviously going to be different,” Laviolette said. “We’re still in an evaluation process. No matter which players we choose to play, it’s still training camp and it’s still a chance to evaluate. We use it for exactly what it is, what it’s been the first three games and what it’ll remain the last three games. But it’ll be different, for sure, because their team has gone overseas.”
Despite the back-to-back schedule, Laviolette said there may be a couple of players who compete in both games.
Asked how he evaluates players who are not going against NHL-level competition, Laviolette was matter-of-fact about the process.
“If you think that he’s that good, then he should dominate,” he said. “There’s still an evaluation process that goes on. It should be a top player for you. If you’re looking at somebody to come in and make your team, most likely you’re going to be in the same roles, same situations, most likely. Maybe even an expanded role. How do they do inside of that expanded role? So we’ll just use it for an evaluation period.”
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Victor Mancini continued to skate on the right side of Adam Fox in Ryan Lindgren’s absence Sunday.
The rest of the defensive pairings included K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba, Zac Jones-Braden Schneider and Connor Mackey-Chad Ruhwedel.
Adam Edstrom rejoined the Rangers’ main group Sunday and rotated in on the fourth line alongside Vesey, Carrick and Rempe.
