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 84 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. Please note that Christmas break is over which means an expected jump in maladies.
Injury Updates
Centers
Ryan Kesler returned to action on Wednesday night against Vegas. Expect him to be eased back in a bit but his fantasy relevance will now climb with each passing game. Adjustment period is likely but the center will play 20+ minutes in no time. Anaheim likely will start to rise in the standings along with fantasy value within its top six.
Alexander Wennberg is out after taking the worst of a hit last week. A back injury will keep him out at least a week or two. Further information revealed that the Columbus forward will miss four to six weeks of action. Alas, some have surmised this could be a herniated disc. Stay tuned to see what his condition is in a month’s time.
Connor McDavid succumbed to a foot malady and is day-to-day. Fortunately, this appears to not be serious. Lastly, McDavid played on Wednesday night against Winnipeg and showed no ill effects from the foot bruise. Even Vincent Trocheck’s chest injury is not serious enough to merit more than a blurb.
Wingers
Cam Atkinson is out 4-6 weeks with his foot injury. Atkinson broke his foot blocking a shot before the Christmas break and now could be out until the first of February. Columbus’s top six took a huge hit as the Blue Jackets face the Metropolitan Division and a tougher schedule starting in January.
Jesper Fast suffered a quadriceps injury and is currently week-to-week. Information has been spotty with the Rangers forward, as the expectation is Fast will miss several weeks. Fortunately, New York has been healthy most of the season. Their schedule has helped some in that regard but they do have some luck on their side.
Lance Couture received a concussion and is likely out another week at least. Part of this malady involves passing baseline tests, but the degree of concussion is important given Couture’s history. San Jose misses Couture on the man advantage yet more importantly when it comes to matching up lines. His fantasy relevance is obvious.
Defensemen
Calvin de Haan injured his shoulder and is likely out for the season. Surgery appears inevitable for the defenseman as this is a more complex separation and tear. There is some hope in a second opinion but most have doubts. The Islanders defender did not provide much in the way of points. However, he was useful in shots and blocks plus hits even.
Ryan Ellis’s return is expected to be the middle of next week (knee). He has missed the first three months and Nashville is not in a rush to play him top minutes. This is more a matter of getting back to 100%. It was reported that Ellis was ahead of schedule and was held back for his own benefit. Nashville has been a team to beat and now fantasy owners rejoice as the prospect of the Predators’ power play improving. Expectations should be low at first.
Goalies
Craig Anderson returned to the Ottawa lineup Wednesday night after missing a week with the flu. It appears the goalie is 100% by all accounts and is raring to go. Considering that he has struggled so often this year, maybe the rest did him some good. Fantasy owners need the 2016-17 version of the netminder back.
Corey Crawford departed early against New Jersey last week. The trip to the injured reserve means he will miss at least a week of action and possibly more. Crawford might have a back or groin issue which has been nagging him for a little while. Crawford fantasy owners should not worry too much at this time.
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.