It is never easy to foresee the unforeseen. Injuries happen every day in the NHL and here at FantasyAlarm, our goal will be to help you try to stay on top of those maladies. Counting all the latest bumps, bites, and bruises, there were 79 players held out of lineups. Five of those are long term injuries from a previous year. Those players are likely not to return or have retired. That leaves 74 who have been hurt this season. Here are some of the more notable ouches out there and their possible prognosis on this Friday. Periodic updates and returns are provided as well. The latest walking wounded is listed below.
Centers
Paul Stastny is still out with a lower body injury which has kept him out probably a week or so more than expected. The bad news is he was recently placed on the injured reserve list. The key facet to consider is that the bye week for St. Louis is coming up (February 21-25). It does not seem likely that he will return in the next seven days.
Mitch Marner is facing the possibility of being out for this weekend if things do not improve quickly. At press time, Marner did not practice on Friday after suffering an upper body injury (may be a shoulder). It was a nasty hit to take and the pain was immediate. The best advice is to wait as information may be quickly at the ready early in the afternoon. Honestly, Marner may be someone to stay away from this weekend fantasy wise.
Tyler Johnson is still day to day with an undisclosed injury. There is no clear timetable currently. However, he was on the ice for practice on Friday so Johnson was upgraded to questionable on Saturday versus Dallas. The good news is he was wearing a regular jersey which means restrictions are few, if any. It all will just come down to can he go? If he can, that is good news for fantasy hockey owners.
Wingers
Carl Hagelin and Sven Baertschi have been both diagnosed with concussions. They are now being listed on the injured reserve. As the players head through the protocol, the severity of the injuries are not quite known. They may bounce back in a few games or this may take weeks or months. These are third line players that can be more vital than people think. Hagelin is showing more promise of coming back faster as he is in a full contact jersey. He will need a little more practice time.
Scott Hartnell is out with a lower body injury and likely not available for the Friday night clash against Pittsburgh. When a player crashes that hard into the boards, the worry is always just healing from all that bruising – whether it be internal or external. Columbus is approaching their bye week so do not be shocked if he is held out another week or so.
Bryan Rust is on the injured reserve due to an arm injury. It is safe to say he will be more week to week than day to day at this point. Conor Sheary may even be back sooner at this juncture. It is a situation where the goal is to find whomever is inserted on Sidney Crosby’s flanks then roll with it. The trade deadline plus rash of Pittsburgh injuries is setting the stage for something big. See below.
Defensemen
Olli Maatta is injured yet again and will be out at least six weeks. The hand surgery was successful but do not be surprised if the defenseman is just held out until the first round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh has already placed him on the long term injury reserve which frees up some cash for a potential trade deadline acquisition. That was not the only Pittsburgh defenseman to go down on Thursday night.
Justin Schultz is day to day with what looks to be a head injury. The defenseman will not play on Friday and could be out for some time. That depends on how well he responds and severity of injury. That was a nasty hit he absorbed from Dustin Byfuglien. There will be more information as it becomes available on social media.
Marc Methot and Kevin Klein both missed their Thursday night games with, you guessed it, the flu. They are both listed as day to day so keep an eye on their status for the weekend. Sometimes this is a bug that takes a few days to pass through and every so often, it takes longer. Honestly, 99% of the time a player misses a game or maybe two and returns. Watch out for other players though.
Goalies
Roberto Luongo was thought to have won the game on Wednesday against San Jose unless one stayed up and watched the game. When San Jose tied it, Luongo went out with a lower body injury. James Reimer won the game in overtime. The good news is that the starting goalie just had some cramping and needed an I.V. He will be fine but do not be shocked if Reimer does start in Anaheim.
Louis Domingue is day to day with a lower body injury. He has struggled mightily so other than a Mike Smith injury, Domingue has little fantasy value other than to be picked on by fantasy players looking to stack offenses. Smith will carry the load just a little more and honestly, Domingue (like Ondrej Pavelec) has decreasing fantasy value every day.
Chris Wassel can be heard on Fantasy Hockey X every week and on various places throughout the internet. He can be followed on Fantasy Alarm and Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. A special thanks this week to nhl.com, George Richards, Brian Metzer, Dan Rosen, and Selene Parekh of The Fantasy Doctors for all their information.