The latest NHL injury information on Crawford, Kucherov, Schneider, Evander Kane, Nugent-Hopkins and many others…

Happy Easter/long weekend all! We’re winding down to the last week of the season. Who’s available to help you bring home the championship purse, and any bragging rights that come with?

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

P.K. Subban – Subban has returned to practice on the Habs’ top power-play unit. Although he didn’t make an appearance versus the Red Wings, he’ll almost certainly be in the lineup in the very near future. He’s missed Montreal’s last nine games with a neck injury.

Corey Crawford – Crawford’s injury has been mysteriously labelled as “upper-body” and he’s been on day-to-day status since March 14^th. That’s your formula for an athlete/team hiding a concussion, folks. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun Times has a source that corroborates that with regards to the Hawks’ netminder. He had a hell of a season going too. Even though they added big pieces like Ladd and Fleischmann, they’re really going to struggle without Crawford. A saying goes: “If you have a goalie, it’s 30% of your team. If you don’t, it’s 100%”.

Nathan MacKinnon – Mackinnon will miss at least the next game with a knee injury. BETELGUESE YES!

Matt Duchene – Duchene will miss at least the next game with a knee injury. At least he’s been skating on his own though.

John Carlson – The Caps’ top defenseman returned to pop in the OT winner against New Jersey. It was the only goal in the contest and helped add a shutout to his goalie’s Vezina-calibre season.

Johnny Gaudreau – Gaudreau has a nagging upper-body injury that has kept him out for just a game so far, though the Flames are playing again tonight. The star winger is a huge reason for Calgary’s offense this year, and I’m sure they eagerly wait for his return.

Nikita Kucherov – A few days ago, the Lightning claimed Kucherov has a lower-body injury and is to be regarded as day-to-day. He was on a roll before he went down, having scored six points in his previous four games.

Sami Vatanen – The young blueliner played almost 21 minutes, but was a ghost on the statsheet otherwise. Zeroes across the board.

Cory Schneider – Schneider has been sent down to the AHL! Drop him ASAP! Nah, I’m just joshin’. He HAS been sent down though, on a conditioning stint. He’s hoping to be back in an NHL crease on Thursday.

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

Justin Faulk – Faulk’s finally back in action, and with a point and five shots in the last three games, is ramping up to his mid-season form. Will he get there in time for it to not matter? Stay tuned to find out!

Evander Kane – Kane missed the third period against the Red Wings with an upper-body injury, which has last long enough to keep him out of the game against the Pens too. They could have used him too, having lost that game in a shootout. He’s day-to-day for now.

Brendan Gallagher – Gallagher has a lower-body injury, but has joined the Habs as they travel to Florida to play the Lightning and Panthers this week. If he makes it back, he wouldn’t be a bad play at all for multicat leagues, especially those that count PIMs.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – The Nuge is skating on his own, looking to return to the Oilers lineup this season, despite the fact that almost no good will come of it. What’s gonna happen? Their lottery chances slip 2%? They’re gonna win it anyways, what’s the point?

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

Shane Doan – Why does anyone own Shane Doan anymore? Doesn’t he have grandkids? For those 47% of you (FORTY SEVEN PERCENT? Wh… why?), he’ll likely play Thursday. He’s been out since for a couple of days with an upper-body ailment that sounds suspiciously like a concussion.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Vlasic’s lower-body injury is still nagging him. Kevin Kurz of CSN found him limping around still. He’ll remain on day-to-day status for now.

Ryan Callahan – Callahan has returned to practice in a contact jersey, indicating his proximity to returning to game action. He’s been out with a lower-body injury since March 17^th.

David Perron – Despite a below-mediocre run prior to his injury, the Ducks need Perron back if they’re to make it out of the tough Western Conference. He’s still week-to-week. At this point, it sounds like he won’t even make it back in time for the playoffs. The only reason he’s not with the other players who are “D.f.t.S.” is because there’s so little information about his recovery.

Leo Komarov – After struggling to stay in the Leafs’ lineup with a lower-body injury, Komarov got discouraging tests results and could be done for the year. If you ask me, he was lucky the tank just ran over his legs.

Marek Zidlicky – Zidlicky is still out indefinitely and has been since March 10^th. At this point, I’m beginning to think he retired and just didn’t tell anybody.

Artem Anisimov – Coach Joel Quenneville hopes that the Hawks’ centerman will be able to return from his lower-body injury on Friday. They just dropped a 4-1 decision to division rival Minnesota, and they’ll need all the points they can get to avoid a first-round matchup against the Blues.

Tyler Myers – Myers underwent successful knee surgery last Thursday and won’t play again this year. The Jets opted for early surgery so that Myers would have enough time to recover and begin rehab for the hip surgery that he’s going to have in a few weeks. He’s already a Band-Aid Boy Trainee; does this “promote” him to Certified?

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

Valterri Filppula – The Lightning forward returned Monday night against Toronto and was almost as invisible as Vatanen. He has two PIMs to his name and nothing else in 17 minutes of ice-time.

Kris Russell – Dallas is being extra-cautious with their newly-acquired defenseman. Russell will likely be kept out of the lineup on Thursday, but will return shortly. When he does, though, he’ll be stuck behind star sophomore John Klingberg, so don’t hold your breath or anything.

Nikolaj Ehlers – Ehlers has been back for three games now, and has a goal and is plus-four over that time. He had a whale of a game recently. Even though he didn’t find the back of the net, he was credited with five shots against the Flyers on Monday. He will definitely help your fantasy playoffs!

Done for the Season

Tyler Seguin – “I can’t really picture myself missing game one”, said the Stars’ centerman. Even so, you can’t count on him during the final stretch. He’s out with a 15% cut in his Achilles tendon.

Carey Price – Big big news as Carey Price is travelling with the Habs to Florida and may actually play soon! It’s late for those in non-H2H leagues, but if you’re missing your injured goalie, the best goalie on the planet makes for an OK waiver pickup, I suppose.

Evgeni Malkin – Malkin’s absence has been mitigated by a resurgent second line for the Penguins, powered by one Phil Kessel. Don’t kd yourself, though. Without Malkin, the Pens are going to struggle to get out of the first round.

James van Riemsdyk – As has been the case since February, JVR will not play until September.

Dion Phaneuf – Phaneuf is officially done for the season with a foot injury. Looks like this trade is turning out worse that the Sens hoped for.

Anton Stralman – After a pretty tough fall to watch, Stralman was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of his left fibula and is out indefinitely. He is critical to the Lightning’s chances of a deep playoff run. Without him, their defence doesn’t have a ton of depth. He won’t be helping anyone’s fantasy playoffs, at the very least.

Olli Maatta – Last year it was Kris Letang; this year it’s Maatta’s turn to be injured. He’s been labelled week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, so while it’s possible that he returns in time for the start of playoffs, it’s also unlikely. You’ll likely see Letang’s numbers drop slightly because of this as well.

Jaroslav Halak – This fragile netminder got himself a six-week-long appointment with the injury reserve, thanks to a groin injury. He’s still got three weeks to go.

Mike Cammalleri – The Devils’ top forward has been written off for the season. Hopefully he falls a bit in the draft next year for you to snatch up. For now, though, he’s useless.

Dennis Wideman – Wideman’s done for the season. A triceps injury has him off the ice and on the shelf until the Flames can try for playoffs again in October.

Radim Vrbata – Vrbata shone pretty brightly when he started with the Sedins, but this knee injury is looking like a relief to Canucks fans.

Marian Gaborik – Gaborik won’t play again this year; he’s got a lower-body injury. A knee-on-knee collision will keep him out of the lineup until the round one of playoffs.

Jason Demers – Demers’ absence might seriously hurt the Stars’ playoff chances. He’s out for the season for sure, but also might miss playoff games. If the Stars fail to clinch the division championship, they’ve gotta beat either St. Louis or Chicago to advance. Good luck with THAT.

Kyle Turris – Turris has a high ankle sprain that will keep him out for the season.

Bryan Little – Little has a pretty big injury. A fractured vertebrae is going to keep him out for the rest of the season.

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.