UPDATED 4/28/2021 5:40 PM ET
Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. The injury report is going to keep you up to date on all the important injuries going on around the league, and how that might affect your fantasy hockey team. Make sure to check back regularly for any updates. Let’s take a look at some players that are either ruled out, or that we need to monitor.
| NAME | POS. | TEAM | INJURY | EXP. RETURN DATE | ANALYSIS |
| Petr Mrazek | G | CAR | LOWER-BODY | DAY-TO-DAY | Petr Mrazek just can’t seem to stay healthy. He’s already missed the last three games due to injury, and we don’t know if he will be ready to return this week. The team is probably just being cautious with their starting goalie, but fantasy owners wish he could return to action to help them in their league playoffs. |
| Mikko Rantanen | RW | COL | COVID-19 | DAY-TO-DAY | Mikko Rantanen has missed the last three games due to COVID-19, but the expectation is that he might be able to return on Friday. That would be good news for fantasy owners who could use his scoring touch to help them win their playoff matchup. We should know more as the week moves on. |
| Jack Eichel | C | BUF | NECK | MID APRIL | **UPDATE** Do not expect Eichel to return to the lineup before mid April. We have some more news about Jack Eichel, and it’s not good. The word is that he is dealing with a cervical spine injury, and head coach Ralph Krueger did say that his star player will be out for the “foreseeable future.” The rumour is eight weeks, but that remains unconfirmed at this point. This is obviously terrible news for fantasy owners, and if the timetable is correct, that would pretty much end his regular season, and fantasy owners in redraft leagues could go ahead and drop him. For now, let’s just stash him on IR and wait for more news, but don’t expect anything to be positive. |
| Brendan Gallagher | RW | MTL | THUMB | OUT FOR SEASON | Habs forward Brendan Gallagher is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a fractured thumb. This isn’t the first time in his career that he’s had to miss time due to a hand injury, and sadly, it probably won’t be the last. He might be able to return for the playoffs, but from a fantasy hockey perspective, in non keeper leagues, he can be dropped. |
| Alexander Radulov | W | DAL | LOWER-BODY | DAY-TO-DAY | Alex Radulov has missed a ton of time this season due to injuries, and once again, he is out of the lineup. The veteran is dealing with a lingering lower-body injury, and who knows when he might be ready to return. If he can return by the weekend, that would be great. The Russian has 12 points in 11 games this season. |
| Joonas Korpisalo | G | CBJ | LOWER-BODY | OUT FOR SEASON | Joonas Korpisalo will miss the remainder of the season due to a lower-body injury. He left Sunday’s game and was later announced that he wouldn’t take part in the team’s remaining six games. He has a terrible season, so I don’t think this will affect fantasy owners moving forward. |
| Elias Pettersson | C | VAN | UPPER-BODY | WEEK-TO-WEEK | Elias Pettersson is still on IR due to an upper-body injury, and there is no new information as to when he might be ready to return. Keep him on IR and wait for any news to come out. |
| Anders Lee | RW | NYI | LOWER-BODY | OUT FOR SEASON | If the Islanders are going to win a Stanley Cup this season, it’s going to be done without their captain. Andres Lee is going to miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Fantasy owners in redraft leagues can go ahead and drop him and look for a replacement on the waiver wire. The veteran finishes the season with 12 goals and 19 points in 27 games. |
| Dylan Larkin | C | DET | UPPER BODY INJURY | OUT FOR SEASON | Dylan Larkin’s season has officially come to an end. The Detroit Red Wings’ centerman suffered a lower-body injury last Tuesday, and the team announced that he would be reevaluated in two weeks time. That would bring us past the end of the regular season, so Larkin will not be able to make a return.He finishes the season with nine goals and 14 assists. |
| Zach Werenski | D | CBJ | SPORTS HERNIA | OUT FOR SEASON | The Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman is officially done for the season due to a sports hernia. It looks like he’s been dealing with this issue for much of the season, and with Columbus expected to miss the playoff, it’s best to give their defenceman the time needed to heal and be ready for next season. He finishes the season with seven goals and 13 assists in 35 games. |
| Evgeni Malkin | C | PIT | LOWER-BODY | WEEK-TO-WEEK | It’s tradition for Evgeni Malkin to miss time due to injury, and we’ve finally made it to that stage in the season. The veteran centerman is week-to-week due to a lower-body injury, so who knows when he might be able to return. For now, we need to hold onto Geno and stash him on IR. Let’s hope this is a two week injury and not something more than that. |
| Aaron Ekblad | D | FLA | LEG | OUT FOR SEASON | The Florida Defenceman underwent successful surgery to repair a fracture in his leg and is expected to be out of the lineup for 12 weeks. The team didn’t want to say if it was a leg fracture, but that’s exactly what it looked like. It was a very scary injury to witness, and we knew from the start that he was done for the season. This is terrible news for everyone involved, but the veteran should be able to make a full recovery and be ready for next season. |
| Frederik Andersen | G | TOR | LOWER-BODY | WEEK-TO-WEEK | What looked to be a non serious injury has turned into Frederik Andersen missing over a month of hockey. Even if he were to come back, Jack Campbell has been on fire, and deserves to be the starting goalie. It might be time to face the reality that Andersen isn’t that great and just drop him from your fantasy hockey team. |
| Filip Forsberg | LW | NSH | UPPER-BODY | DAY-TO-DAY | The Predators have been without Filip Forsberg since March 25th, and we still don’t know if he will be able to return to the lineup before the end of the season. Nashville is dealing with a ton of injuries, but Forsberg’s is the only real fantasy hockey relevant forward on that team. The news so far isn’t good, and if he were to be out of the lineup for the next few weeks, the decision to drop him in fantasy hockey needs to be considered. |
| Carey Price | G | MTL | CONCUSSION | WEEK-TO-WEEK | Habs goalie is still out of the lineup due to a concussion and there is no timetable for his return. He hasn’t played hockey since April 19th, and he hasn’t resumed skating yet. There is word that he;s making progress, but that doesn’t mean he will be able to return before the start of the playoffs, should Montreal make it to the next round. For now, it’s best to stash him on IR and wait for more information, but fantasy owners should prepare themselves to not have him back for the remainder of the year. |
| Carter Hart | G | PHI | KNEE | WEEK-TO-WEEK | Carter Hart hasn’t played hockey since April 15th, and considering how poorly he’s played, it would probably be wise to shut him down for the remainder of the season. His knee isn’t improving, and the Flyers are not going to make the playoffs, so why bother trying to bring him back? The kid could use the time off to regroup and work on being A LOT better for next season. |
| Steven Stamkos | RW | TBL | UNDISCLOSED | DAY-TO-DAY | Steven Stamkos is out of the lineup due to a mystery injury, and we don’t know when he might be ready to return. The initial reaction is that it’s a day-to-day injury, but without any news, this could be one of those injuries that lasts a couple of weeks. The Lightning sit at the top of their division, so there is no rush to bring back their captain. Let’s wait a little more before taking a decision to cut ties with him. |
| Jonathan Drouin | LW | MTL | PERSONAL REASONS | OUT FOR SEASON | Montreal forward Jonathan Drouin has been granted a leave of absence by the team and has been placed on LT-IR. He missed the last three games due to injury, but it looks like he has been dealing with much more than that. Moving him to LT-IR frees up the cap space Montreal needs to have Cole Caufield on the ice, but many people wonder why Drouin has decided to step away from hockey and the team at this point. It’s been a difficult season for him, goal wise, and the Montreal media isn’t always very kind. At this point, we wish him the best and hope he can return to the team at some point. |
| Semyon Varlamov | G | NYI | UNDISCLOSED | DAY-TO-DAY | Semyon Varlamov is dealing with a mystery injury and we don’t know when he might be ready to return. We literally have no information about the injury, when he suffered it, or if he will be able to return in the near future, leaving fantasy owners completely in the dark. The Islanders aren’t very good at giving out team information, so who knows when the veteran netminder will be ready to return. |
| Alex Ovechkin | LW | WSH | LOWER-BODY | DAY-TO-DAY | Alex Ovechkin has now missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury, but he is still being listed as day-to-day. The Russian sniper hasn’t practiced much over the last week, and at his age, the team might want to give him all the time in the world to feel 100%. The Capitals are a lock to make the playoffs, so there’s no need to rush him back. Fantasy owners may think otherwise, but giving him the rest he needs is more important. For now, the expectation is he will return before the end of the season, so stash him on your bench and wait. |