Welcome to the Fantrax NHL Injury Report for November 17, 2025. In today’s report, we have an update on Auston Matthews, a timeline for Jack Hughes’ freak injury, updates on Charlie McAvoy, Anthony Cirelli, and Brady Tkachuk. Read all about this and more in today’s NHL Injury Report from Fantrax.
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NHL Injury Report for November 17th:
Auston Matthews, C – Toronto Maple Leafs
No update since November 14, when it was announced Matthews would miss at least a week. He was placed on IR, which means he will miss at least one more game. The Leafs’ next game is Tuesday, likely another day or two before his status is updated further.
Jack Hughes, C – New Jersey Devils
Jack Hughes underwent finger surgery, and is expected to miss 8 weeks, the Devils announced. pic.twitter.com/kz8hzpacaM
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 15, 2025
After a bizarre incident at a team dinner, Hughes will miss the next eight weeks with a hand injury. Apparently, Hughes slipped on broken glass and suffered a cut to a finger serious enough that it required surgery.
Hughes will miss at least 20 games to injury for the fourth season in a row. Yikes!
The Devils are better positioned than most to lose their number one center. Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer should both bump up a line. This would slide Mercer into the Devils’ top six at five-on-five. Mercer has also been bumped up to the first power play unit. If he can hold onto this spot, Mercer could be in for a sizeable production bump while Hughes is out.
Brady Tkachuk, LW – Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk is right on schedule in his rehab from his thumb injury.
He was injured Oct 13th vs Nashville. 6-8 week recovery and Doctors said he could start handling pucks in a month. He is on the ice handling pucks today, right on schedule.— TSN 1200 Ottawa (@TSN1200) November 14, 2025
Tkachuk is skating and handling pucks. He has also joined the Senators for their seven-game road trip. He’s getting close. Â The Senators don’t play again until Thursday. Hopefully, I’ll be able to provide another update with a more specific timeline on his return.
Thomas Harley, D – Dallas Stars
Glen Gulutzan said Thomas Harley played 3-4 games with the lower-body injury before it was decided to give him the break and not risk making it worse. #TexasHockey https://t.co/eoI7JFsX6Z
— Brien Rea (@BrienRea) November 16, 2025
It seems like Harley hasn’t been himself for longer than 3-4 games. Let’s hope giving him the rest he needs will get this budgeoning star back on track.
Even though his season feels disappointing to this point, Harley still holds a 40-point pace. The Stars play three games this week and four in each of the next three weeks. The missed games could add up.
Anthony Cirelli, C, and Victor Hedman, D – Tampa Bay Lightning
The #GoBolts injury situation is a mess tonight.
🔹 Hedman is day-to-day, missed yesterday's practice and today's skate. Game-time decision?
🔹 Anthony Cirelli returned to practice yesterday but missed today's skate. Game-time decision?
🔹 Ryan McDonagh is OUT.
🔹 Nick Paul… https://t.co/isfLG2bbKS— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) November 12, 2025
Cirelli has returned to practice and is close. That said, everything seems to be in the air in Tampa right now. I’m expecting him to be a game-time decision on Tuesday, but let’s hope we get clarity before then. If he misses Tuesday, we can hope he’s finally ready to go by Thursday’s game.
Hedman has missed three games and is listed as day-to-day and could also be a game-time decision. It seems more likely he’ll miss at least one more game at this point.
Matt Duchene, C/RW – Dallas Stars
Duchene has missed 14 games and remains day-to-day. The Stars are being very cautious with his recovery and return. Expect another game-day decision as to whether he will play Tuesday or sit again.
Charlie McAvoy, D – Boston Bruins
Charlie McAvoy, who took a puck to the face in the second period, will not return tonight. #Bruins
— Jim McBride (@globejimmcbride) November 16, 2025
There hasn’t been a specific update on McAvoy yet, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that he travelled back with the team Saturday night.
The Bruins should provide an update today since they play the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. Let’s hope nothing is broken. That significantly impacts the length of time McAvoy will be out.
Matt Lohrei is most likely to benefit from McAvoy’s missing time and is worth a pick-up if available. He is currently rostered in 43% of Fantrax leagues.
Marco Rossi, C – Minnesota Wild
The #mnwild has placed forward Marco Rossi on Injured Reserve. He is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) November 14, 2025
Rossi was off to a good start with 13 points in 17 games. The Wild play three games in each of the next three weeks, a moderate schedule that may have benefits to Rossi owners later on.
His injury means Ryan Hartman slides into the second-line center role between Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov, quite the promotion, even if it is temporary.
That will do it for your November 17th NHL Injury Report. Thanks for reading.
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