Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Every week, we will discuss some key injuries around the league and how they may affect your fantasy hockey team.  It’s never easy to deal with the injury bug, but it doesn’t have to be the demise of your fantasy hockey team. Let’s take a look at who’s dealing with what this week!

 

NHL Fantasy Hockey Injury Report

Dylan Cozens - Buffalo Sabres - Upper-body

Dylan Cozens was unable to play in Thursday’s game against Chicago and is considered day-to-day. The kid is having a tough 2023-24 season and the timing of the injury just doesn’t help. It doesn’t sound like anything serious but we’ll need to wait for another update and hope he can return against Tampa Bay. At this stage of the season, if he were to miss a significant amount of time, it wouldn’t be crazy to drop him and look for a replacement on the waiver wire. 

Jacob Markstrom - Calgary Flames - Lower-body

Jacob Markstrom has missed the last two games due to a lower body unjust and there is still no timetable for his return. The team is calling him day-to-day, but that doesn’t tell us anything. He hasn’t been placed on IR, so the speculation is that he is day-to-day. Calgary has one more game to finish the week, so hopefully, he can return for that one and get back to being dominant like he’s been in his last three starts.

Pyotr Kochetkov - Carolina Hurricanes - Concussion

Pyotr Kochetkov is expected to miss some time as he deals with a concussion. The Carolina goalie has been placed on IR and it’s hard to tell just how much time he will be missing. The Hurricanes did claim Spencer Martin off waivers from Columbus, so read what you wish out of that. Kochetkov hasn’t been elite this season, but he plays on a very good hockey team, so this hurts fantasy owners. We’ll have to wait for another update before deciding what to do with him long-term.

Aleksander Barkov - Florida Panthers - Lower-body

Aleksander Barkov is going to miss his second game in a row and we don’t know how many more games he may not suit up for. The Florida captain is dealing with a lower-body injury, but that’s all that we really know. Barkov has been great this season, so the timing of the loss hurts everyone involved. Fantasy owners can’t replace a player like him, so for now, we wait for an update and go from there.

Jack Eichel - Vegas Golden Knights - Knee

Vegas forward Jack Eichel is expected to miss multiple weeks as he recovers from a knee injury. The team has said four weeks, so at least it’s not season-ending. Still, losing Eichel from a fantasy perspective is tough. He’s been having a great season and the Knights have had their fair share of injuries this season. He underwent the procedure to fix the problem, but four weeks is early on the timeframe. Fantasy owners are hoping he can return sooner rather than later and that he can return to form.

Mark Scheifele - Winnipeg Jets - Lower-body

Mark Scheifele has missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury and there is no timetable for his return. He left the game against Chicago and was placed on IR not long after. Scheifele is a huge piece of the Winnipeg offense, so if he’s out for a while, it hurts their chances of continuing their push to lock up the top spot in the league. The first step would be to see him at practice, which hasn’t happened yet. Fantasy owners should start preparing for him to miss a couple of weeks.