Injury updates: Post-All-Star edition, including Jake Allen, Mike Smith, Mike Cammalleri and many others…

Hey all, a light update as not many games were played since the last Injury Report. Many players took this chance for a break and returned to the lineup after long absences last night. How did they do? Find out below.

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

Connor McDavid – What a return. I’m exhilarated hours after watching that game. McJesus’s Resurrection was a thing of beauty, as he put up three points, including this game-of-the-year candidate of a goal. Needless to say, get him back into your lineup right now if he isn’t already.

Max Pacioretty – Pacioretty is no worse for wear after taking a PK Subban slapshot last week. He was a minus-1 in the Habs’ 4-2 loss to the Flyers.

Rick Nash – The Rangers winger is still missing time with a deep done bruise suffered going into the boards in a game before the All-Star Break. He just resumed skating and stickhandling, but it was at the very end of Rangers practice, so don’t expect him back too soon.

Kyle Turris – Turris’s lower-body injury broke his 307-game ironman streak and is still keeping him out of the lineup. The Sens lost 6-5 to the Pens last night. They could’ve used their top center to give them a push over the top there, but honestly, when you score five goals, you expect to win a hockey game. That score is a little deceptive though, as Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was not on his game. The Sens were actually outshot 44-23.

Carey Price – Carey Price will miss at least two more weeks with a lower-body injury. The Habs have been in freefall for so long, it reminds me of this scene from Journey to the Center of the Earth.

John Carlson – Carlson needed just two games to get back up to his 24+ minutes of TOI. He has no points since his recovery, but played 6:48 on the powerplay last night. With Ovechkin coming back from suspension, expect that PP TOI to mean big things for the Caps #1 defenseman.

Henrik Sedin – Henrik is expected back in the lineup this week. He’s missed four games with an upper-body injury. Crazy Sedinery-related stat: the Canucks have never played a game without a Sedin in the lineup since April 9^th, 2000.

Sergei Bobrovsky – No recent updates on Bobrovsky’s groin injury. Safe to say, you’ll wanna keep a healthy distance from the Blue Jackets anyways. They’re rocking a league-worst minus 30 goal differential.

Jake Allen – The Blues can keep a heavy workload on Brian Elliott, who is performing fantastically in Allen’s absence. In fact, he’s fresh off a 14-save shutout last night! Allen has been week-to-week with a groin injury and still has no timetable for his return.

Semyon Varlamov – Varlamov is NOT injured, despite his status on Yahoo. He’s been involved in a civil case against him regarding alleged domestic violence. The jury awarded him the victory and $126,000 last night. He’ll be back in net for the Avs sooner rather than later.

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

James van Riemsdyk – As expected with most long-term injuries, there was no update to JVR’s status; he’s still going to remain on the shelf with a broken foot for around 5-7 weeks. Michael Grabner takes his spot on the top line alongside Nazem Kadri.

Mike Cammalleri – The Devils’ top scorer is again out after aggravating his hand injury. He was placed on the injured reserve by his team and will not play against Toronto tomorrow night.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – It’s the same story with Nugent-Hopkins, who has two months to go before he returns from a fractured hand. With McDavid back and rolling, Nugent-Hopkins can rest easy, knowing that his position is being taken care of.

Niklas Kronwall – The Red Wings have officially placed Kronwall on the long-term injured reserve. He won’t be able to return until Valentine’s Day. That’s more or less in line with his original 2-4 week recovery schedule, of which we’re currently in week three.

Johnny Boychuk – The New York Islanders are keeping Boychuk out until around this weekend. They don’t want to risk a Bobrovsky situation where their defenseman ends up needing another three weeks with a re-aggravated shoulder injury.

Jaden Schwartz – Schwartz didn’t play last night, but he’ll be evaluated tonight and hopefully we get an update from the Blues at that point. He was exceptionally hot in the second half last season. Look for him to slot right in beside Tarasenko and begin producing immediately.

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

Marcus Johansson – Johansson has a mysterious upper-body injury that he sustained from this innocuous Wayne Simmonds hit into the boards. He didn’t play last night, so it’s not too minor. However, no real schedule has been given for his return.

Cam Fowler – Fowler returned from his knee injury to help the Ducks top the San Jose Sharks. He had been out of the lineup since December 27^th. However, it looks like the bulk of the offensive minutes will be going to Sami Vatanen, so Fowler isn’t the person to look towards to save your season.

Michal Neuvirth – A goalie that has actually flown way under the radar for me, Neuvirth has a .933 save percentage and 2.14 GAA. The Flyers will be missing his services for the next 7-10 days, but only have one back-to-back in that time. Expect Steve Mason to get all five games or so until Neuvirth is able to return. Even when that happens, though, he’s little more than a timeshare goalie. He likely won’t end the season with much more than 35 games played.

Tyler Ennis – Not much in the way of news on Ennis’s upper-body injury, other than he “doesn’t seem to be even close to a return”. Keep on regarding this one as week-to-week.

Matthew Perreault – The Jets activated Perreault from the injured reserve Tuesday. He played 17:18 in his return and put up two shots. If it wasn’t for an excellent shot by Antoine Roussel, the Jets might’ve bene able to mount a comeback.

Ondrej Pavelec – Unlike RNH, Pavelec does NOT have the luxury of time, as backup Connor Hellebuyck has posted a .927 save percentage in his absence. If Pavelec remains out much longer, he’ll find himself on the outside looking in.

Mike Smith – Smith is still in recover from abdominal surgery, but given that he was only supposed to be out until mid-February, he’s would have been near the end of his recovery. Times have changed, and his prognosis with it. He’ll miss at least another month. Dobber darling Louis Domingue makes for an excellent interim pickup.

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

Justin Schultz – Edmonton’s current favourite whipping boy missed McDavid’s return with an illness. Some thought he was being held out of practise because of an imminent trade, but were sadly mistaken. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Reto Berra – No news on this front, but Colorado is still clearly not ready to bring Berra back. Calvin Pickard started last night’s game against the reigning Cup champions, the Blackhawks. He did very well, letting in just two early goals on 41 shots, but didn’t have much in the way of goal support and picked up the L.

Oscar Klefbom – Klefbom was expected to return shortly after the All Star break, but the Oilers’ defenseman hasn’t made an appearance yet. It’s tough to say exactly when he’ll be back because of the nature of his injury (a staph infection), but I’d consider him week-to-week for now.

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.