Kaapo Kakko and Kevin Rooney, who are both on injured reserve, will be sidelined for at least the rest of March, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said during his trade deadline conference call on Monday. 

The hope is that the two forwards will be healthy and ready to return to the lineup by early April. 

Kakko, who has been spotted with a brace/cast on his wrist, hasn’t played since the Rangers’ 6-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina on Jan. 21. The Finnish winger has missed the last 22 games. Prior to his injury, Kakko made an impression on the right side of a line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome. 

In light of the moves Drury made to fortify the Rangers’ bottom six, it’s likely that Kakko will return to that spot once he’s ready. Before then, recent acquisition Frank Vatrano has slotted onto the second line and has given the Bread-and-Butter duo some more speed. 

Rooney, who has primarily centered the fourth line this season, has missed the last nine games with an undisclosed upper-body injury. 

Regarding Vitali Kravtsov, who didn’t take his demotion to AHL Hartford well at the start of the season and was loaned to the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinski, Drury said the organization has been in touch with the Russian forward. 

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“There’ll be time to comment on what’s next,” Drury said. “He’s in the middle of a playoff series. We want him to do well, play well. I wouldn’t be commenting on anything other than wishing him well, and we’re watching.” 

Drury also declined to comment on pending unrestricted free agent Ryan Strome’s contract situation. 

“I’m not going to talk about anything with contracts with players in the media,” he said. “I think I would echo the same and repeat the same thing I said about Mika [Zibanejad] about Ryan. He’s a terrific player, has been a great Ranger. It’s been a good trade for the organization and he’s even a better person. I’ll leave it at that and we’re certainly excited he’s on our team down the stretch here.” 

Asked to evaluate Nils Lundkvist’s 25-game cameo earlier in the season, before the defenseman was sent down to AHL Hartford and passed over on the depth chart by the likes of Braden Schneider and Zac Jones, Drury said he still sees the Swede fitting with the organization. 

“He was a first-round pick; I think he’s a terrific prospect,” Drury said. “The adjustment, I think, at times can be harder for someone coming from a different size rink in a different league. I thought he had some really good moments when he played with us. At the time, we wanted to give Schneider a look, and Nils understood that. And he’s gone down and played well.”