Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Every week, we will discuss some key NHL 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 lineups. Let’s take a look at who’s dealing with what this week in the latest NHL Injury Report! Be sure to factor in these NHL injury updates as you update fantasy hockey rankings and set your fantasy NHL lineups. 

 

Fantasy Hockey NHL Injury Report

Charlie McAvoy - Boston Bruins - Upper-body

Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy has missed the last two games due to an upper-body injury and there is still no timetable for his return. The team is calling him day-to-day, but we know that means absolutely nothing. He’s going to need to log at least one practice before he can make a return to the lineup, so it’s either happening on Thursday or Friday. Boston has back-to-back games coming up so we could see McAvoy suit up for one of them. Right now, there’s no reason to panic, but the hope is he can return sooner rather than later.

Andrei Svechnikov - Carolina Hurricanes - Upper-body

Andrei Svechnikov is expected to miss a significant amount of time due to an upper-body injury. He’s missed the last three games and head coach Rob Brind’Amour said the winger “will be out for a while.” Svechnikov has managed to suit up for just 16 games this season. He has exactly one goal for the year. At this point of the season, fantasy owners may want to consider moving on from him. It’s tough to move on from a player who can do so much, but if he can’t stay healthy, there’s no reason to clog up an IR spot for him. This sounds like an injury that could keep him out for one-to-two months, so holding onto him for that long just isn’t worth it.

Dylan Larkin - Detroit Red Wings - Upper-body

Dylan Larkin has been placed on IR and there is no timetable for his return. The team refused to call it a concussion, but anyone who saw what happened to him knows that’s probably what he is dealing with. Larkin has dealt with his fair share of head/neck injuries, so it would be wise to give him all the time in the world to recover. It’s unlikely we see him suit up before Christmas, so fantasy owners will need to find a short-term solution on the waiver wire.

Victor Hedman - Tampa Bay Lightning - Upper-body

Victor Hedman played just 13 minutes against the Seattle Kraken and was unable to suit up for their last game against Vancouver. The team has told us that he is dealing with an upper-body injury and that he is day-to-day. Obviously, this isn’t great, but right now, it doesn’t sound like something that we keep the veteran defenceman out long term. Tampa Bay continues its West Coast swing with stops in Edmonton and Calgary, so we’ll see if he can return to the lineup for one of those games.

Joseph Woll - Toronto Maple Leafs - Ankle

Just as the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting some decent goaltending, the hockey gods came in and put a stop to that. Joseph Woll has been really good this season, but he hurt himself against Ottawa and is now expected to miss some time with an ankle injury. It’s so unfortunate to see him go down because he was really starting to take over the starting job. We don’t know exactly how long he will be out, but a high ankle sprain is a tough injury for any player, but even more for a goalie. He’s out for the next four weeks and it could be closer to six depending on how quickly he heals. 

Kyle Connor - Winnipeg Jets - Knee

The worst has been confirmed for Kyle Connor. The Winnipeg winger is expected to miss six to eight weeks due to a knee injury. He suffered the injury against the Anaheim Ducks and we knew that it was bad the minute it happened. Connor has been exceptional this season--scoring 17 goals in 26 games-- and now the Jets need to find a way to replace his offence. For fantasy owners, you can’t replace a player of his skill level. If he needs the entire eight weeks, this put his return closer to the fantasy hockey playoffs. If you can’t hold onto him for that long, it may be best to shop him and see if you can get any kind of return for him.