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.