It is never easy to foresee the unforeseen. Injuries happen every day in the NHL, and here at Fantrax, our goal is to help you try to stay on top of those maladies with our weekly Injury Report. Counting all the latest bumps, bites, and bruises, there were 91 players held out of lineups. Several of those are long-term injuries from a previous year. Those players are likely not going to return or have retired. Here are some of the more notable maladies out there and their possible prognosis.
Injury Updates
Centers
Ryan Johansen suffered an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. The center could miss a few games or more. This will be something to monitor closely. It seems like Kyle Turris is doing just fine picking up the scoring slack in Nashville. So far, there are no worries for the Predators even with this injury.
Tyler Bozak is out with an illness. He is day-to-day. It is quite possible Bozak returns in the next game or two. This is not a serious malady. Do not be alarmed that he has been kept out a bit longer than expected. Toronto’s injury situation has been very good. The widespread nature of the flu is going to get more intense over the next several weeks.
Connor McDavid fell victim to the flu bug, as well. However, the center did play on Wednesday night. The thing is this: Do not mess with the flu and even “superflu.” It is serious business given the fact that so many players have succumbed to it already.
Ryan Spooner is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated later today, and there is concern that Spooner may be hurt worse than thought.
Wingers
Jaromir Jagr again has a groin injury that kept him out of Wednesday night’s game. This has been a nagging issue even more than usual considering the chronic malady. His fantasy hockey relevance has sadly faded. One always wonders about surgery, but Jagr just will not go down the road.
Mikkel Boedker suffered an undisclosed malady and is currently day-to-day. Information has been scarce with the San Jose forward, and yet he could return at any time. There is lots of unknown so just keep an eye on Boedker.
T.J. Oshie hurt something in the head area and was held out of Wednesday’s game against Chicago. This is not believed to be all that serious. Washington needs him back as soon as possible to keep the top six in balance. More importantly, doctors will not let him skate until he fully passes all tests. Draw from that what you will.
Defensemen
Hampus Lindholm was placed on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The expected recovery time is questionable, which means he will miss several games at least. Will it be longer? That is the question. He has been skating. However, full practices are not in the cards just yet. They may be soon. On the other hand, this will be one to keep an eye on with the beat writers. This has become a bit of an ongoing issue.
Nathan Beaulieu is day-to-day with an illness. He has missed a game or two already and could miss a game or two more. It is not serious. This is more a matter of getting back to 100%. It was reported that Beaulieu lost several pounds already. That weakness could affect him in the first few games back.
Goalies
Roberto Luongo is expected to miss as much as 6-8 weeks or so with a lower-body injury. This was suffered when he went to make a save. It is a no-contact injury. These are scary. Some are saying only several weeks, while others have feared months. It is best just to assume that the 38-year-old goalie will be out of action until at least January.
Marc-Andre Fleury’s head injury has improved, and he is even practicing. However, do not expect him playing next week unless he passes every baseline test. Then, Fleury will have to be 100%. Consider that the goaltender has missed almost two months now with the concussion. Hopefully, there is even better news next week.
Cam Talbot is on the injured reserve and will miss a few weeks with that tweak that turned out to be way more significant. Corey Crawford is out several games with another undisclosed injury believed to be a groin. Ben Bishop is day-to-day with a back injury. Watch this one, as Bishop has had similar issues in the past that have been burdensome.
Chris Wassel is on Fantasy Hockey X every week and on various places throughout the internet. Follow him on FanTrax and Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. A special thanks this week to nhl.com, Brian Metzer, Pete Jensen, Eric Stephens, Dan Rosen, and Selene Parekh of The Fantasy Doctors for all their information. Also, thanks to all the beat writers that make this column possible each week.