Welcome to the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Once a week, we’ll take a look at some injuries around the league that may affect your fantasy hockey team. Injuries will always happen and you can’t predict when, but it’s important to be ready for the aftermath and to have a plan ready. Let’s take a look and some players who are on the shelf for the upcoming week and beyond.


Artemi Panarin - Columbus Blue Jackets - Winger

Injury: illness, day-to-day.

The hockey world was expecting something big to happen when it was announced that Artemi Panarin would be held out of Tuesday’s game versus the Canadiens, but it turns out the winger is just dealing with a case of the flu. There is a ton of talk that Panarin will be traded before the deadline, and the Jackets may want to keep him off the ice to avoid and chance that he gets injured. For now, fantasy owners can proceed as normal and hopefully the Russian winger will be a go for Friday’s matchup against the Senators.

Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers - Center

Injury: illness, day-to-day.

Unlike Panarin, there is no chance that the Oilers are holding McDavid out of the lineup to trade him. The centerman is also dealing with illness and his status for Thursday’s game is still questionable. The team has an off day on Wednesday, so we should get an update on his status after practice. For now, fantasy owners can plug him into weekly lineups and move on to bigger and better things.

Matt Duchene - Ottawa Senators - Center

Injury: rest, day-to-day.

It looks like Matt Duchene’s time in Ottawa is slowly coming to an end. The centerman is being held out of the lineup for Thursday game to make sure he doesn’t suffer an injury that could prevent him from being traded before Monday’s deadline. It’s hard enough for fantasy owners to deal with player injuries, but Duchene owners now have to deal with him being rested. There are plenty of short-term solutions available on the waiver wire, but they won’t be able to make up for the loss of Duchene. If you’re in a weekly league, it may be best to sit the 28-year-old this week and hope this situation gets resolved before Monday.

Victor Hedman - Tampa Bay Lightning - Defence

Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.

All-star defenceman Victor Hedman was held out of Tampa Bay’s last game due to a lower-body injury and his status for Thursday’s game is still undetermined. Hedman has already missed time this season due to injury, so the hope here is that he won’t be out of the lineup too long. The team hasn’t provided an update on his status, so hopefully we will get more information Wednesday after practice.

Dustin Byfuglien - Winnipeg Jets - Defence

Injury: lower-body, week-to-week.

It has not been an easy season for Dustin Byfuglien. The Jets’ defenceman is expected to be out until late February with a lower-body injury. Byfuglien has already missed time this season due to injury, so this is the last thing fantasy owners wanted to hear. The hope is that the veteran defenceman will be back before the end of February, but that timetable is a hard one to trust. Fantasy owners who are in a hunt for a playoff spot may want to consider dropping him, but it’s worth waiting another week before doing something drastic.