The latest injury updates on Silfverberg, Neal, Hodgson, Couturier, Fehr, Johnson and more…

Ajay Da Costa (@AjayDaCosta)

It’s finally here, mes amis! The day we’ve all been waiting for! Before we rush into the season headfirst, let’s take a look at the players who played their way out of your week 1 lineup and onto the Injured Reserve.

BOSTON Jakob Silfverberg – Don’t worry, Raffi Torres-haters. I see you there. His target on Saturday is recovering well and was recently cleared for practice.

BOSTON Zdeno Chara – Big Z is still out with a UBI, but he practiced on Tuesday and is day-to-day. He said he’s not thinking about Thursday, just trying to be better one day at a time.

BUFFALO Josh Gorges – Gorges was back at practice on Friday and is expected to be in the lineup for the season opener.

BUFFALO Zach Bogosian – The Sabres’ top-pairing defenseman is still out with a lower-body injury about which the Jets are being vague. He was placed on the IR and will miss at least 3 games.

COLORADO Jarome Iginla – Iginla’s hip issue was not serious, and he recorded a team-high five shots in his return to action. He’s good to go.

DETROIT Pavel Datsyuk – Datsyuk’s ankle is still keeping him out. The prognosis is still mid-November. I’m still keeping you in the loop. Pav is on the IR, which was expected.

DETROIT Dan DeKeyser – DDK’s out 3-4 weeks it seems. He’s got a sprained ligament in his foot and won’t make his appearance until late October, and could miss up to 10 games.

EDMONTON Jordan Eberle – Big news that will no doubt have a ripple effect: Eberle will miss up to six weeks with a separated shoulder. Not only does this affect his owners, but you can be that the Nuge will miss his wingman, and that other teams will be able to focus on Hall and McDavid a bit more. It can’t be understated how important Edmonton’s leading scorer in 3 of the last 5 years is to them.

MINNESOTA Justin Fontaine – Fontaine is on the IR, retroactive to Sep. 24^th. He was at practice on Tuesday, so don’t expect him to miss too much time.

MONTREAL Noah Juulsen – Juulsen’s mysterious concussion (it happened “off-ice”) has apparently healed, allowing the Habs’ defenseman to play in a preseason game. Don’t expect him to stick around this season either way.

MONTREAL Max Pacioretty – Like I said last week, Pacioretty’s good to go. The famously quick healer managed to get in two preseason games and will be in the lineup later tonight in Toronto.

MONTREAL Zach Kassian – Marc Bergevin was pretty pissed about this player’s substance-abuse-related accident. Kassian has been entered into a rehabilitation program and will miss an indefinite length of time.

NASHVILLE James Neal – The descriptive report from last week wasn’t elaborated on, and Neal seems to be OK. As you were.

NASHVILLE Cody Hodgson – Hodgson is over his UBI, and will start the season on the Preds’ third line.

NEW JERSEY Patrik Elias – Elias’s knee still hasn’t gotten any better, causing the Devils to put him on the IR.

NEW JERSEY Kyle Palmieri – Palmieri’s Devils hope he’ll be back soon. He injured himself crashing into the boards during last Wednesday’s game vs the Flyers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS Jaroslav Halak – The Isles’ goalie just finished his first full practice. He may or may not be available to open the season, but either way I doubt he’ll be ready to open the season. At least not right away.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS Thomas Hickey – Hickey still has 3 weeks left on his timetable, and was put on the IR by the Isles.

OTTAWA Andrew Hammond – The words Sens’ fans hope you never say… Andrew Hammond may be human after all. He injured his groin during a morning skate and will sit for 2 weeks.

PHILADELPHIA Sean Couturier – The Flyers’ top defensive center is good to go for their opener.

PHILADELPHIA Michael Raffl – So is Raffl. Good things come in bunches I suppose.

PITTSBURGH Pascal Dupuis – Crosby’s other partner-in-crime will miss 4-5 weeks with an undisclosed injury. Who decided it was a good idea to hide this information from NHL.com and let literally everyone else report it needs to lose their job.

PITTSBURGH Eric Fehr – Fehr’s returned to practice and is shooting pucks again. This should be a good sign or his development, but don’t assume it means he’ll come back early.

ST. LOUIS Carl Gunnarsson – Gunnarsson skated on Friday, but still estimated it’ll be a week before he’s ready to play. However, GM Doug Armstrong said he’s ready and he did skate with Shattenkirk.

TAMPA BAY Tyler Johnson – Johnson’s wrist may be ok, but the Tampa Bay center has other problems. Unfortunately, no one will tell us what they are! Johnson and teammate Alex Killorn are out with undisclosed injuries.

TAMPA BAY Andrey Vasilevskiy – Vasi is due for a checkup on October 21^st. Keep him in your mind before then and you might have a chance to rip off your leaguemates.

TORONTO Stephane Robidas – Robidas was put on the IR earlier on Tuesday. He probably wasn’t too fantasy relevant anyways.

VANCOUVER Chris Higgins – Higgins is still one week away from a re-evaluation of his broken foot.

WASHINGTON Nicklas Backstrom – Backstrom’s “progressing really, really, well”, according to Coach Barry Trotz. Expect him to miss four or five games, but not much more.

WASHINGTON Brooks Orpik – The Caps’ defenseman participated in a full practice on Tuesday. Expect him to play in the Caps’ opener.

Follow me on Twitter for injury updates and general hockey-related tomfoolery! @AjayDaCosta, in case that address bar is too far away.