NHL Injury Report Week 4: John Gibson, Nico Hischier & Nicklas Backstrom Injury Updates
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!
Fantasy Hockey NHL Injury Report
John Gibson - Anaheim Ducks - Upper-body
John Gibson was not at practice on Wednesday and is considered day-to-day. The veteran netminder is off to a not-so-great start-- having won just one game in five starts-- and is being outplayed by Lukas Dostal. At this point in his career, he’s no longer a starting goalie and fantasy managers holding onto any hope that he can return to his former ways are delusional. It’s time to let him go and look for something better.
Sam Bennett - Florida Panthers - Lower-body
Sam Bennett was able to make his season debut against Boston earlier in the week but played just under eight minutes before having to leave the game. This is a concern seeing as he missed the start of the regular season due to a lower-bosy injury. We don’t know if he reaggravated the same injury, but the team is calling him day-to-day. It’s too early to know how serious this setback could be, so for now, we wait for another update before deciding on keeping him on the fantasy roster or letting him go.
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils - Upper-body
It has not been a good start to the season for Nico Hischier. He is once again out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury and it is unlikely that he will accompany the team on their road trip. The kid has two goals in seven games, but it’s hard to build on anything if you’re constantly dealing with injuries. He’s a great player, so fantasy owners are going to have to be patient. If he does miss the road trip, the earliest he could return is November 10th, so let’s see if he can make a return at that point.
Carter Hart - Philadelphia Flyers - Undisclosed
Flyers goalie Carter Hart left Wednesday’s game with an injury and was unable to return. He tried to fight through it, but it was a good call by the team to get him out of there. We don’t know how serious the injury is, but any extended period of time that he misses would not be ideal. The Flyers are in action on Friday against the Sabres, so we’ll see if he’s able to dress for that game. Right now, the team may want to play it safe and give their star goalie some time to make a full recovery.
Nicklas Backstrom - Washington Capitals - Hip
Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom has been played on IR due to his hip injury and there is no timetable for his return. Backstrom made the announcement himself, saying that he was stepping away due to his injury. He underwent hip surgery in 2022 and clearly, he is still feeling the effects of it. We know he’s a great player, but this could truly be the end of his career. Something in that hip is bothering him and at 35 years old, there isn’t much time left in front of him. It would be nice to see him finish out the season, but the veteran centreman may have played his last game on October 29th. We hope he can make a speedy recovery.
Player News
Tyler Glasnow (shoulder) will be shut down from throwing for 10-14 days before being re-evaluated.
Glasnow hit the injured list earlier this week with right shoulder inflammation. The Dodgers are going to give him at least a couple weeks to rest before he’s potentially cleared to resume a throwing program. It seems highly unlikely he’ll make it back to Los Angeles’ rotation until sometime in June since he’ll need at least a couple minor league rehab starts to build up his stamina and pitch count again. He remains without an official return timetable for the moment.
Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) will make another minor league rehab start.
The Brewers haven’t publicly released an exact date for Woodruff’s return to the big leagues, but it sounds like there’s a chance it’s coming shortly after his next rehab start in the upper minors. The 32-year-old former fantasy ace fired 5 2/3 scoreless frames on Wednesday in his latest tune-up for High-A Wisconsin.
Brice Turang was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup due to illness.
It’ll be rookie Isaac Collins, who connected for his first big-league homer on Tuesday night, taking over at the keystone in his absence. Turang might need a couple days to rest and recover before getting back into Milwaukee’s lineup. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.
Jimmy Butler (pelvis, glute) is available to play against the Rockets in Game 5 on Wednesday.
As expected, Butler will be good to go once again after initially being listed as probable for this game. He played 40 minutes on Monday to help Golden State take a 3-1 lead in the series, and he will likely continue to play a ton of minutes to help the Warriors attempt to end the series on Wednesday.
Mike Trout was removed from Wednesday’s game against the Mariners for precautionary reasons with left knee soreness.
Trout told reporters following Wednesday’s contest that he’s already feeling better and expressed optimism that he’ll be ready for Thursday’s series opener against the Tigers. He also noted that he’s already undergone some preliminary testing, which didn’t reveal anything serious. It’s a significant concern for fantasy managers since Trout missed most of last season with a torn meniscus in his left knee. It sounds like his early exit was out of an abundance of caution and he’s not dealing with anything serious. He should be considered day-to-day for now.
Mookie Betts knocked in four runs with a triple and a single in the Dodgers’ 12-7 defeat of the Marlins on Wednesday.
Jesús Sánchez got turned around in center field on the triple, which really ought to have been an out. Still, the triple did travel 389 feet, which is the second farthest Betts has hit a ball this year. It was Betts’ second extra-base hit in two weeks and eighth of the year. At .250/.339/.407 through 28 games, he’s still looking for his first hot streak this season.