Taking a look at the Top 10 new Band-Aid boys…

Many fantasy GMs have been screwed by the Band-Aid Boy.

A phrase first coined by Dobber many years ago, a Band-Aid Boy is a player who just can't stay healthy. Sure, guys can lead you to championships if they stay healthy, but a lot of poolies have been screwed by certain players who constantly get injured.  The thing to keep in mind is the injuries don't have to be major —some players are a good bet to miss at least five to 10 games — and these absences can make or break your year.

Sure, it's easy to know Marion Gaborik, Kris Letang and Martin Havlat are Band-Aid boys. But the trick is to figure out who is about to turn into a Band-Aid boy, and making sure you don't have too many of them on your team.  Or better yet, trade a player before his injuries pile up and value plummets.

Dobber compiled a list of Band-Aid Boys, but it's time for some new names to be added.  Here are the top 10 Band-Aid Boys I would add to the list.

10. Cam Fowler

Fowler is now out for the next three to five weeks with a sprained MCL, and that's not good news for the 22-year-old Ducks defenceman. Last year, Fowler missed eight games with a head injury and another couple of games with an upper body spasm. For a 22-year-old who has struggled on the blue line the last few years, it's frustrating when his great comeback season is interrupted with injuries, especially now that many pools are in their playoffs.

9. Ryan Murray

Murray has had nothing but bad luck since being drafted by Columbus two years ago. Last season, he injured his shoulder in junior and missed most of the season. This year in the NHL, he's out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Like Fowler, these late-season injuries can keep a playoff team from winning the championship.

8. Jimmy Howard

While the Red Wings fight for a playoff spot, one has to wonder where they would be if Howard could stay healthy. In the second half of the 2011-12 season, Howard missed eight games with a broken finger and seven more games with a groin injury. This year, Howard has missed time with a knee ligament sprain.

7. Beau Bennett 

Bennett may never fulfill his potential of playing a regular shift with Evgeni Malkin if he can't get on the ice to begin with. It's been a rough couple of years for the 22-year-old. So far this year, he's played in just 12 games, thanks to a broken wrist. But this was a trend with Bennett even in his university days. As a freshman, he missed five games with a knee injury. As a sophomore, he missed four games after injuring his wrist, and another 29 games to fix a ruptured tendon in his wrist. With so many wrist injuries, it will be interesting to see how his shot may be affected.

6. Stephen Weiss

During most of career with the Panthers, Weiss could be counted on to miss five or six games a season, but the injuries have really piled on the last two years. During the 2012-13 season, Weiss played in only 17 games, thanks to a wrist injury that required surgery. After signing a massive contract with Detroit in the offseason, Weiss has played in just 26 games after suffering a groin injury. And if you're like me, you sing that last part like Sam Malone.

5. Cam Ward

After a pretty healthy career, Ward has missed significant time the last two seasons. On two separate occasions this year, Ward has suffered a lower body injury (it must be an epidemic, as there's lots of those going around), resulting in him missing more than half the season. Last year, he played in just 17 games after injuring his knee. While Ward is a good buy-low candidate, owners need to remember Ward has played in just 43 games the last two years.

4. Alex Galchenyuk

The sophomore has missed significant time in two of the past three seasons going back to his rookie year. In 2011-12, as a member of the Sarnia Sting, Galchenyuk missed all but two games of the season while recovering from a major leg injury. This year, he missed 15 games with a broken hand. It's great that he's a young prospect with lots of potential, but there needs to be some concern that he could be the second coming of Marty Havlat.

3. Max Pacioretty

The man with Wolverine blood bounces back from injuries pretty quickly. But he also seems to get injured a lot, and it's only a matter of time before they start taking longer for him to recover. Besides the Zdeno Chara hit that fractured a vertebrae and gave Pacoretty a concussion, in the last three years, he's missed eight games with a hamstring injury, a couple of games because of an arm injury, a dislocated shoulder in Game 1 against the Sens in the playoffs last year, and an emergency appendectomy. All this took place in the last 15 months.

2. Daniel Sedin

While this seems to be an every-other-year type thing, there is some concern for the Western conference winger who will be 34 years old at the start of next season. In 2009-10, Sedin missed almost 20 games because of a broken ankle. In 2011-12, he was concussed after being hit by Duncan Keith and missed 10 games. This year, he's missed nine games with a lower body injury. It's just another reason why Sedin isn't a top-10 left winger anymore.  

1. Carey Price

Hate to say it, but it looks like fantasy owners may have to get used to an annual trip to the IR for the Habs goalie. In 2008, he injured an ankle and missed a month of action. At the end of the 2011-12 season, he missed the last four games with a concussion. Last season, a groin injury knocked Price out of the playoffs against the Ottawa Senators. This year, he aggravated an injury during the Olympics which took him out of eight games for the Canadiens. Like it or not, he now seems to be a consistently injury-prone player.  

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