The Latest on Simmonds, Gibson, and more…

Here’s this week’s latest in the injury world! If you don’t see a certain player below, there probably haven’t been any major developments in their progress. Once there is a significant update, I’ll be sure to have it for you on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza!

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

Wayne Simmonds – The Flyers’ forward will miss the next two to three weeks with an upper-body injury. Nolan Patrick might see an increased role on the power-play in Simmonds’ absence.

Jack Eichel – Sporting a boot on his ankle, still weeks away from a return. The team is 1-4 in his absence…

Mike Smith – The Flames’ goaltender will travel with the team as they visit Vegas and Arizona, but this might have more to do with Smith being a former Coyote, getting a chance to catch up with familiar faces. There’s still no guarantee he skates on the trip, so expect him to miss a few more games.

Corey Crawford – Hasn’t been on the ice since I told you he participated in the team’s morning skate last week. When asked if the injury would threaten Crawford’s career, coach Joel Quenneville said, “not sure about that, too far out”. There’s about a 0.4% chance the Blackhawks make the playoffs at this point, so if I were a betting man, I’d say Crawford doesn’t return this season.

Shea Weber – His recovery from a left-foot injury isn’t going according to plan, and now rumors are swirling that he’s done for the season. According to coach Claude Julien, Weber is “not comfortable in his skate right now” and there are a few small issues that need to be taken care of. Considering the Habs have a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs, the best move would be to shut Weber down for the rest of 2017-2018 and come back with a healthy roster next season.

Cory Schneider – Has been skating the past couple of days. The team is expected to give us another update on Wednesday, so follow me on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza to hear the details as soon as they’re made available. I wouldn’t say Keith Kinkaid has been stellar in Schneider’s absence, but he’s certainly giving the Devils a chance to win. Kinkaid is 3-1 in his last four starts.

John Gibson – The Ducks’ goaltender won’t face the Stars on Wednesday, and should be considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Gibson was sent spinning after contact with Alex Tuch, and while he was able to finish the period, he left the game during the intermission. The fact that he wasn’t removed immediately allows me to hope the injury isn’t too severe, but he hasn’t practiced since. Ryan Miller has been a serviceable back-up this season, which is evident through his .918 SV%. However, he’s going to have his hands full against a high-powered Dallas offense.

James Neal – It looks like the flu kept Neal out of Monday’s game against the Ducks. Consider him day-to-day for now, but I’d expect him to be ready to face the Flames on Wednesday.

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

Robin Lehner – The Sabres’ goaltender sat out Monday’s game against the Capitals as he recovered from a hip injury. He expects to be a full participant in Wednesday’s practice and travel with the team for their games on Thursday (@Detroit) and Saturday (@Washington). It’s hard to expect much from Lehner considering the state of the team in front of him, but maybe a change of scenery would boost his value.

Erik Johnson – The Avalanche defenseman will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. While he was on pace for only 30 points on the season, it’s going to be hard to replace the 25 minutes of ice-time he was averaging each game.

Mike Green – The Red Wings’ defenseman is hoping to return from an upper-body injury Thursday when the team faces the Sabres. Green is on pace for a respectable 41 points this season, which has generated a lot of interest among contending teams before the deadline.

Jeff Carter – The Kings return home to host the Stars on Thursday, and the plan is for Jeff Carter to start practicing with the team before that. Considering he has only played six games this season, he needs to participate in a few practices to improve his conditioning. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised if next week I was announcing Carter’s return.

Tomas Hertl – The San Jose Sharks have three more games left in their road trip (Thursday @ Nashville, Friday @Chicago, and Sunday @Minnesota), and coach Pete DeBoer still expects Hertl to return in one of those games.  

Justin Schultz – Has been practicing and seems close to a return. Considering the team had four days off in between games, Schultz hopefully had plenty of time to recover from an illness.

Jacob Trouba – The team expects him back in mid-March, but have no reason to rush him back considering there’s a 99.4% chance they make the playoffs.

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

Jacob Markstrom – The Canucks goaltender “tweaked something” in Monday’s practice, so expect another update on the severity of the injury soon.

Nick Foligno – Will miss one or two weeks with a lower-body injury. It’s been a pretty disappointing season offensively for Foligno, as he’s on pace for just 36 points.

Jonathan Bernier – Was hit in the head during Friday’s game against the Jets. Looks like he has a concussion, something we can never really put a timetable on. With Semyon Varlamov healthy again, Bernier’s role would have been greatly reduced anyway.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – The Oilers’ forward skated with his teammates on Tuesday, for the first time since suffering a rib injury last month. He last played on January 13, so he’s going need a few practices before returning to the lineup.

Thomas Greiss – While we don’t have an exact timetable for his lower-body injury, coach Doug Weight doesn’t think it’ll keep him out for too long. Greiss’ 11-7-2 record doesn’t really highlight his struggles this season, but his .891 SV% and 3.84 GAA sure does. 

Michal Neuvirth – The Flyers’ goaltender will miss the next four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. With Brian Elliot out long-term as well, the team was forced to trade for an experienced goaltender – Petr Mrazek. Check out the impact of that trade here.

Bobby Ryan – Has been skating and could return before Monday’s trade deadline (February 26).

Shea Theodore – The Golden Knights’ defenseman is dealing with a serious throat infection, but don’t expect it to keep him out for too much longer. He had gone eight straight games without a point prior to the ‘injury’.

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

Andrew Shaw – Has returned to practice, but it’s unlikely we see him in the lineup before next week’s trade deadline (Monday).

Vladimir Sobotka – Missed Tuesday’s game with an illness, shouldn’t cause him to miss any more action.