NHL Injuries – updates on Letang, Johnson, Fleury, Smith, Bjugstad and others…

Ajay Da Costa (@AjayDaCosta)

Happy Hump Day, all! Let’s hope that these players starting getting over their humps (and bumps and… mumps? Please God no!) so that all our teams can get back to healthy competition!

The Big Guns (>80% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

Kris Letang – Looks like I spoke too soon last week when I said Letang’s out day-to-day. He’s now out for at least two weeks with a different undisclosed injury. I’m sure everyone who’s not a first-time fantasy player knows the routine with Letang, but I’ll say it for the rookies: Letang might be the highest risk/reward player every season. Playing with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel should guarantee you a metric tonne of points, especially if you’re as talented and hardworking as Letang is. But for some reason or another, it never pans out.

Connor McDavid – Status quo on the wunderkind. He’s still out until at least mid-January. It doesn’t look like the Oilers need him as they just had a six-game winning streak snapped. They’re seriously rolling and I’m really curious to see what happens when McDavid returns.

Carey Price – Price still has four weeks left on his original recovery timetable, and he’s said that that’s the one we should be sticking to. He’s out with a lower-body injury.

Marc-Andre Fleury – Flower is out for at least 1-2 weeks with a suspected concussion. It’s sad that we won’t see him in net for a while, but at least Head Coach Mike Sullivan has promised to open the offense up a bit more. I’m curious how the Penguins defend with both Fleury and Letang out.

Devan Dubnyk – Dubnyk has started suiting up in a backup role as he’s eased back into the lineup. It won’t be much longer before he sees starting minutes, barring any setbacks.

Tyler Johnson – Johnson managed to re-aggravate an injury and is out yet again for at least a week. Even Head Coach Jon Cooper sounds fed up. "We just can't have this back for one, gone for three, back for one, gone for four," Cooper said. "We've got to make sure these guys are ready to go."

Logan Couture – Whatever caused the mumps last year is around again, except this year it’s causing stars to get these weird “combo” injuries. The Sharks’ centerman is out once again after the team discovered an arterial bleed in his thigh. The injury won’t be long-term, but honestly, the way things are going, I wouldn’t hold my breath. He’ll be missed until Christmas.

Sergei Bobrovsky – Team doctors have classified the injury Bobrovsky suffered on Dec. 9^th as lower-body and gave him a three week prognosis. That’ll track out to around New Year’s Eve.

The Second Liners (50%-80% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

Brendan Gallagher – Gallagher has resumed skating since having surgery for fracturing his hand. His original timetable has him 2-3 weeks away from action. He could return as early as New Year’s Day for the Winter Classic.

Mark Streit – Streit is still rehabilitating after pubic plate surgery, but hopes to return to the Flyers for their California road trip just after Christmas.

Adam Henrique – One of my favourite players, Henrique missed a few games but is back in the lineup, as healthy as ever.

Jaromir Jagr – The ageless wonder has missed two practices, but it’s reportedly just the flu. It won’t keep him out long.

Ondrej Palat – Palat just isn’t getting better. He’ll now miss three games while his Bolts go on a road trip.

Jaden Schwartz – No update to Schwartz. He’s still on the IR with a broken ankle. The original timetable was three months. That tracks out to until at least January. This’ll be the last mention of him until then (unless news breaks, of course).

Ondrej Pavelec – Pavelec’s strained knee is still keeping him out of the lineup. It’ll be another month or two before he’s ready for action, so I’m going to take the same road as with Schwartz and hold off on mentioning him unless something surfaces.

Frederik Andersen – It looks like Andersen is ready for action, but he’s got a John Gibson-sized obstacle in his path. ESPN’s Scott Burnside suggests that Boudreau will go with the hot goalie, especially since the Ducks are fighting for their postseason lives.

The Depth Guys (20%-50% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

James Reimer – Well, we finally have a diagnosis for what’s been ailing Reimer, and it doesn’t look good. Groin injuries are the worst, especially for goalies. They’re easily re-aggravated (the flavor of this NHL season apparently) and they limit mobility. I’d trade Reimer once his value inflates even just a bit. He just doesn’t have the upside of Letang to justify this kind of risk.

Derek Stepan – Stepan is still out 2-3 weeks (per his original schedule) with injured ribs, but he did take part in an optional practice, albeit in a non-contact jersey.

Nail Yakupov – No change to the status of young Yakupov since Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reported his prognosis being out until after Christmas.

Nick Bjugstad – Bjugstad has been out of commission since December 1 and will remain out until at least the 20^th.

Tyler Ennis – No change to Ennis’ status from last week, except that he has resumed skating and shooting. He’s still week-to-week from here.

Martin Hanzal – Hanzal’s mandatory status on the IR will expire tomorrow. He’s been practicing, according to Craig Morgan of the Arizona Republic, and could return tomorrow.

Andrew Hammond – Hammond will return to the Sens’ net Wednesday.

Jonathan Drouin – Whoa! Did someone say “re-aggravated injury”? I swear to God, I’m going to lose my mind if the NHL keeps this up. Hopefully Drouin’s not out long with this re-aggravated LBI. He’s unlikely to play on this road trip.

Mike Smith – Smith received surgery to correct a torn abdominal muscle. He’ll need 8-10 weeks to remain on the shelf.

The Mr. Irrelevants (<20% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

David Pastrnak – Pasta is out with a broken foot, but he’s been skating since last week. No timetable on his return, but it shouldn’t be too much longer.

Dan Girardi – Girardi’s had some swelling in his knee and is listed as day-to-day.

Tomas Hertl – Thanks to a lower-body injury, Hertl missed Tuesday’s game versus Montreal. No mention of how long he’ll be out, but he was a late scratch. Keep an eye on this situation.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Vlasic returned to action on December 12^th and has averaged 23:40 in TOI over the two games he’s played.

Travis Zajac – The Devils’ center has resumed skating and might return this weekend. Don’t expect him back tomorrow versus the Panthers though.

Joffrey Lupul – Lupul returned to the Leafs’ lineup Tuesday versus the Bolts. He played 12 minutes and had three shots on goal.

Kevin Klein – The New York Rangers will miss their depth defenseman for at least another week as he recovers from a strained oblique.

Colin Wilson – Wilson is still out with a lower-body injury, but has resumed skating.

Brandon Sutter – Sutter is still out after sprots hernia surgery. The original timetable has him out another 2-4 weeks.

Oscar Klefbom – Klefbom fractured a finger in the Oilers’ game versus the Rangers on Friday. However, Jonathan Willis of OIlersNation reports that it isn’t major. That’s real good news, as Klefbom is a major piece of the Oilers’ blue line.

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