NHL Injury Report – The latest infor on McDavid, Ekblad, Carlson, JVR, Ghost, Schwartz, Klefbom and others…

Hey everyone! I hope your 2016’s going splendidly so far. Here are some dudes whose 2016 could be better.

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

Connor McDavid – The Oilers’ latest first-overall pick will be out until after the All-Star break. It makes sense, as getting him in for one or two games and risking re-injury makes little sense when he could skip that and have a whole extra eleven days to rehab and get back into game shape. The Oilers are not about to rush their generational superstar.

Carey Price – Like McDavid, Price will also remain on the shelf until after the All-Star weekend. He has resumed skating in the past week. The Canadiens are in the midst of a 3-7-0 skid and their prescription is one Vezina-calibre netminder. They’ve let in three goals in five of their last eight games.

John Carlson – The Capitals’ #1 defenseman will not play Thursday, and Head Coach Barry Trotz describes him as “a ways away” from returning to action. He skated on his own before the Capitals’ practice on Tuesday so things are looking up. I’d label this one day-to-day.

Jeff Carter – Carter returned and has not missed a beat. He scored the game-winner against Toronto on Thursday.

David Krejci – Krejci will not join the team as they embark on a five-game road trip, so signs are not pointing to a quick recovery. Head Coach Claude Julien isn’t about to rule out the chance that he could meet up with them during the trip, though.

Aaron Ekblad – Ekblad didn’t play Monday night after being boarded by Edmonton’s Matt Hendricks. The hit was a retaliation for a hit of Taylor Hall, but Hendricks was suspended three games for his recklessness. The young Panthers defenseman is going through the NHL’s concussion protocol, but should return to the lineup without a ton of notice. There isn’t a timetable for his return yet.

Jaroslav Halak – Halak only let in a single goal in his return versus the Capitals. The Isles are tied for 2^nd in the Metro with 51 points so go ahead and start him with confidence.

Ryan Miller – Miller’s back at practise and Coach Willie Desjardins is comfortable putting him in a backup role until he’s ready to start games. Rookie Jacob Markstrom is 5-2-1 since he began taking over the Canucks’ net for Miller.

Sergei Bobrovsky – The Blue Jackets’ netminder is back at practise, facing shots. This groin has already re-aggravated once, so wait until there’s some real news about him starting a game to finally put him back in your lineup.

Mike Cammalleri – Cammalleri might join the team on their road trip Thursday night. The Devils will not get him in game action, but there’s a strong possibility he suits up for their next game (Sunday vs Arizona).

James van Riemsdyk – The Toronto winger will miss 6-8 weeks with a fractured foot. The Leafs are quite the UFA rental store, not unlike a Blockbuster. What’ll they do without their mainstays like JVR and Bozak, is a whole other problem.

Jake Allen – Allen and a few other Blues are injured. Allen is considered week-to-week and at any new point of information, I’ll send it your way via Tweeter. Brian Elliott's numbers since Allen left: 2-0-1, 1.84 GAA and 0.936 SV%

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

Nick Foligno – The Blue Jackets’ captain was placed on the Injured Reserve on Saturday after a head hit by Carolina’s Brad Malone. He’ll be out long-term. He was on pace for 52 points, a far cry from the 73 points he scored last year.

Mark Scheifele – Scheifele‘s return was short-lived. The Jets’ forward will miss another 5-7 days with a lower-body injury.

Johnny Boychuk – Boychuk will miss at least three more weeks with a lower-body injury. Check again on his progress after the All-Star Break.

Jiri Hudler – Hudler’s will likely return from a lower-body injury tonight versus Florida. The Flames will need his help to climb out of sixth in the Pacific.

Erik Johnson – The Avalanche defenseman is making progress. He skated before practise yesterday. The Avalanche, in the meantime, were busy getting shellacked 4-0 by Tampa Bay. You think they could use him?

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

Jaden Schwartz – Blues GM Doug Armstrong will re-evaluate Schwartz in two weeks’ time. Until then, it’s status quo for him.

Shayne Gostisbehere – Ghost bear won’t play tonight versus the Bruins. His lower-body injury is keeping him day-to-day. It’s a shame, as the season he’s putting together is Klingberg-esque. The kid’s scoring at a 57-point pace!

Nail Yakupov – Yakupov feels he’s ready to step into game action. He didn’t play last night versus Arizona, but he could return Thursday at San Jose or Saturday against Calgary.

Cam Fowler – There’s been nothing in the way of updates for Fowler, whose originally predicted return was to be in another 3-5 weeks.

Tyler Ennis – Ennis has an upper-body injury and the Sabres recently placed him on the Injured Reserve. Consider him week-to-week

Paul Stastny – The Ducks had a murderous attitude on Friday, injuring both Stastny and Jay Bouwmeester. They’ve both got upper-body injuries. Stastny’s is a cheekbone injury; he was seen wearing a full protective cage during yesterday’s practise. He looked ready for game duty, but did not end up stepping in. He looks to be really close, so consider him day-to-day. However, if he’s got a concussion (which is VERY possible), that could extend his timeline.

Jeff Petry – Petry is aiming to return to the lineup tomorrow versus Chicago; he’s been missing time nursing a lower-body injury. He tried to play through it, but it was “nagging for quite a few games”, so he took the time off to recover.

Ondrej Pavelec – Pavelec has resumed skating, but still hasn’t rehabilitated to the point of using pads. He’ll have to fight for the crease whenever he does return, though, so he’s not a great long-term keep. Go grab a Hellebuyck instead.

Mike Smith – Smith is recovering from surgery to correct a torn abdominal muscle. He’s expected to be out until at least mid-February, but has resumed light skating.

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

Travis Hamonic – The Isles are now missing both their top defencemen as Hamonic goes down with a hairline fracture in his foot. He’ll miss ten days.

Reto Berra – No news on Berra who will be out for quite a while. The Avalanche have not given an update on his progress since last week.

Brandon Sutter – Sutter is still out with a lower-body injury, but he’s reportedly nearing a return to the lineup.

Oscar Klefbom – Klefbom has a diagnosis for the ailment that hit him why he was rehabilitating his knuckles, and it’s not good. The 22-year-old is out indefinitely with a staph infection, and that could mean anywhere from two weeks, to two months, to end-of-season. In the worst-case scenario, it could be career-ending, but let’s all hope it doesn’t come to that.

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