NHL Injury Updates on Carey Price, Jeff Carter, Marc-Andre Fleury, Logan Couture, Cam Fowler, Ondrej Palat and others…

Happy New Year, all!

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

Kris Letang – Letang returned and it looked like just what the doctor ordered for the Pens. They won 3-1 versus the Wild, but King Band-Aid Boy showed us why the throne is his. He’s out again with a suspected concussion. He’s skating again, so he might not miss another game.

Connor McDavid – Rotoworld has McDavid returning after the All-Star Game. That’d be January 24, which is more or less in line with his schedule.

Carey Price – Price still has two weeks left on his original recovery timetable. GM Marc Bergevin says he’s on the same timetable. He’s out with a lower-body injury.

John Carlson – Carlson missed his first game since the 2010-2011 season with a lower-body injury. An ironman like that wouldn’t break that streak unless the situation was dire, so don’t be surprised if he’s on the shelf for a while.

Jeff Carter – Carter has missed two games with an upper body injury so far. It's "apparently" his hand and he is day-to-day. In the meantime, his injury caused Darryl Sutter to put Tyler Toffoli and Anze Kopitar on a line together and things have really taken off. When Carter returns, he may find himself with new linemates…

David Krejci – The Bruins’ top center is out with an upper-body injury. Head Coach Claude Julien says it’s week-to-week. Ryan Spooner takes his spot on that scoring line and picked up two assists in his first game there.

Jaroslav Halak – The Isles’ goalie was placed on the Injured Reserve on Sunday with a suspected back injury. No idea how long he’ll be out, the Isles have been mum.

Marc-Andre Fleury – Flower is another Penguin with a suspected concussion. Like Letang, he too is skating in practice. Consider him day-to-day.

Tyler Johnson – The Lightning should expect Johnson back in their lineup (and yours) by the weekend.

Logan Couture – Couture attended Sharks practice and is a possibility to play on Wednesday.

Ryan Miller – The Canucks’ goalie has still not yet skated after suffering a bout of cramps.

Sergei Bobrovsky – Bobrovsky is expected back sometime before the weekend, but groin injuries re-aggravate pretty easily, so he could suffer a setback.

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

Brendan Gallagher – Gallagher resumed skating and is still eyeing a return for the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

Mark Streit – The Flyers are looking to activate Streit for Wednesday’s game versus the Sharks. Again, with all the time he’s missed, he’ll need a few games to get his timing back and will then have to fight to wrest a spot on the top powerplay unit away from Shayne Gostisbehere.

Nick Foligno – The Blue Jackets’ captain returned to the lineup versus Dallas last night.

Mark Scheifele – Scheifele doesn’t have a timetable on his recovery from a concussion, but that should change this weekend. Look for news updates then.

Marian Hossa – As expected, Hossa returned to the Hawks’ lineup after missing two games.

Ondrej Palat – Head Coach Jon Cooper considers Palat to be out longer than Johnson, who is expected back this weekend. Check in over the week for a more concrete estimate. He’s out with an ankle injury.

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

James Reimer – Reimer stepped in for Bernier after the latter let in six goals on 15 shots during Tuesday’s game versus the Islanders.

Nail Yakupov – No updates on young Nail Yakupov since he resumed skating alongside McDavid.

Nick Bjugstad – Bjugstad, out with “migraines”, skated again on Monday, and could return this weekend.

Jeff Petry – Petry returned from his upper-body injury on Boxing Day, averaging 20+ minutes a game.

Joel Ward – Ward returned from an upper-body injury, only to be thrashed by Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche, 6-3.

Cam Fowler – The Ducks’ defenseman is out with a knee injury and won’t have a recovery timeline until later this week.

Ondrej Pavelec – Pavelec seems close to a return as he will travel with the Jets on their upcoming five-game road trip. He might not get playing time though, according to Head Coach Paul Maurice.

Martin Hanzal – Hanzal’s out with a lower-body injury, though the Coyotes are being vague about how and when he received it.

Jonathan Drouin – Drouin is in the same situation as Palat. His return will likely come after Tyler Johnson, who won’t be back until this weekend.

Mike Smith – Smith had surgery to correct a torn abdominal muscle and is expected to be out for another 6-8 weeks.

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

Reto Berra – Berra is out for an unspecified length of time, during which Calvin Pickard is your replacement as Colorado’s backup goalie.

Michael Del Zotto – Del Zotto is out with a wrist injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Robin Lehner – Lehner returned to practice, saying he’s “pretty much 100%”.

Dan Girardi – Girardi has returned from a lower-body injury.

Kevin Klein – After a bout with a strained oblique, Klein returned to the Rangers’ lineup as predicted.

David Savard – The Blue Jackets’ defenseman was originally listed as out with a four-week recovery schedule, but he’s much ahead of schedule. Consider him day-to-day.

Brandon Sutter – Sutter is still out after sports hernia surgery. He could be back in the second week of January.

Oscar Klefbom – Klefbom is still out with a fractured knuckle. He could return in around a week, so keep an eye on his situation.

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.