Brandon Hagel knocks Adam Fox out of the game with a huge hit.

The New York Rangers have just lost one of their top defensemen in what was a concerning looking sequence of events.

On Saturday night, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox was injured when he was on the receiving end of a big hit from the Tampa Bay Lightning's Brandon Hagel. Hagel hammered Fox into the end boards with what looked like a pretty routine body check, but I believe that Fox's body position at the moment of impact may have caused the injury.

Fox felt Hagel coming behind him and braced himself for the incoming body check, placing his hand on the glass as Hagel closed the distanced and made contact. Fox appeared to be favoring his arm as he got up off the ice under his own power and skated over to the Rangers bench. Once at the bench, Fox hunched over the boards while still standing on the ice and appeared to still be favoring his arm as he did so.

Fox would eventually head to the locker room and has not returned to the game since.

Here is a look at the replay:

Fox is one of the most important players on the Rangers roster and any kind of significant injury here would be a disaster for the Rangers. Fox is having a solid season despite his team's struggles with 3 goals and 22 assists already on the season, a total of 25 points in just 26 games. Fox of course also plays a ton of minutes for the Rangers, averaging over 24 minutes a night this season prior to tonight's game.