The latest NHL injury news on Paul Stastny, Sami Vatanen, Andre Burakovsky, Travis Konecny and others…

The Big Guns (>75% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

No updates on injured stars this week, good news for you, bad news for me.

The Second Liners (40%-75% owned in Yahoo Leagues)    

Sami Vatanen – Missed his fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night, word on the street is that he’s getting better but still isn’t well enough to get back into action. He suffered the knee injury against the Panthers on February 3^rd and has been on the shelf since. After putting up 37 and 38 points in the last two seasons, a mere 17 points in 49 games so far this season have been extremely disappointing. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Evander Kane – The Sabres forward missed Tuesday night’s game with an “illness”. Would’ve been a lot more fun for me if he twisted his ankle or something, so I could say he was spotted hobbling with a “Kane”. Usually when a player misses a game with an illness, we see them back pretty soon, so don’t be too worried.

Matt Dumba – The young blue liner missed his second consecutive game on Tuesday night with a lower-body injury. The team doesn’t seem to be treating this like it’s too serious, so I’d consider it a day-to-day situation for now. With 24 points in 54 games this season, and a sparkling +24, you’d be Dumb(a) not to hold on to him until he comes back.

Tyler Johnson – As the Lightning are currently in the midst of their bye week, Johnson is getting plenty of time to recover from an undisclosed injury. However, Coach Jon Cooper is unsure whether that will be enough time, so don’t be surprised if Johnson sits this out Saturday’s contest against the Stars.

The Depth Guys (10%-40% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

Scott Hartnell – The veteran winger is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after an awkward crash into the boards Monday night. Although his point production this year hasn’t been as impressive as prior seasons, he as certainly contributed to the Blue Jackets’ Cinderella year. He seems to have taken a slightly lesser role with the (re)emergence of Alexander Wennberg, Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno. He definitely has value in deeper leagues, so keep an eye out for a return in the coming days.

Erik Johnson – Not many updates about his recent progress have been provided. All we know is that he still hasn’t been skating with the team, so although he was projected to return in the coming days, it might take a little while longer.

Jimmy Howard – It has been a while, but the Red Wings’ goaltender is finally nearing a return. Although irritation in scar tissue around his knee caused him to leave last Wednesday’s game in Grand Rapids (Playing for Detroit’s AHL team as part of a conditioning stint), he’s currently day-to-day and could possibly start one of Detroit’s upcoming games. Since he’s been out for a while, I’ll remind you that he had a 1.96 GAA and .934 SV% before the injury. However, that is a small sample size so proceed with caution.

Paul Stastny – The Blues’ forward will miss the next two games (Wednesday vs. Detroit & Thursday vs. Canucks) with a lower-body injury. The injury doesn’t to be too serious, as coach Mike Yeo hasn’t yet ruled Stastny out for Saturday’s afternoon game against the Sabres. With 35 points in 54 games so far, this hasn’t been a great season, but a strong finish could change that.

Bo Horvat – The Canucks’ forward is currently day-to-day after blocking a shot with his foot against the Sabres. Fortunately, it seems that Horvat only suffered a deep bruise and didn’t fracture anything. Vancouver’s leading scorer has 38 points in 56 games. Not too shabby.

Andre Burakovsky – Expected to miss six to eight weeks with a hand injury, meaning a return around the end of March or beginning of April. With 29 points in 52 games this season, he was on pace to improve on last year’s total of 38 points.

Ondrej Pavelec – The Jets’ goaltender was placed on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury, but has been skating. Expect an update on his progress later in the week.

The Mr. Irrelevants (<10% owned in Yahoo Leagues)

Cody Franson – The Sabres defensemen will miss the next two to three weeks with a bone bruise in his foot. Franson had some good stretches of point production with the Leafs, but it seems Rasmus Ristolainen is the go-to guy for offense from the blue line in Buffalo. 16 points in 53 games this season is enough to give him a touch of value in deeper leagues, expect him back around the trade deadline.

Benoit Pouliot – The veteran forward was kept out of the lineup on Tuesday night with an undisclosed injury. He sustained the injury after wiping out and sliding into the boards during Sunday’s practice. This just adds insult to injury (ha.) on what has been an extremely underwhelming season for the Oilers’ forward, as he’s accumulated just 10 points in 51 games.

Jonas Brodin – The Wild defenseman was placed on injured reserve a month after fracturing his finger (Injured on Jan. 17, place on IR on Feb 13.). He had 16 points in 43 games before the injury, also providing some value in peripheral categories. This is one of those situations where we have to exercise a bit of patience before we hear a positive update from the team. 

Travis Konecny – He was officially placed on injured reserve on February 10^th, reminding us that there are still three to five weeks left in his original recovery timetable. With 22 points in 51 games on the season, the 19-year-old forward was putting together a nice little rookie season for the Flyers.

Carl Hagelin – The Penguins’ forward skated on Monday, but that doesn’t give us a lot of information considering Hagelin is recovering from a concussion. The team continues to monitor his progress and accordingly determine how to move forward. After putting up 27 points in 37 games with the Penguins last season, his 19 points in 51 games this season have been pretty underwhelming. 

Bryan Rust – It seems like an upper-body injury will keep the Penguins’ forward out of the lineup long term. The team doesn’t want to put a timetable on anything just yet, so keep an eye out for a more concrete update soon. If this does keep him out long term, proceed with caution when he returns, he may be a little Rust(y).