Here's the latest injury news from across the NHL! If you're looking for information about a specific player and don't see their name in this article, there probably haven't been any significant updates about their progress since our last article. If you ever need injury updates for a specific player, shoot me a message on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza.

Adam Henrique – Has been skating on his own recently but there's no concrete timetable for his return. Henrique has been sidelined for the past month with a lower-body injury.

Jakob Chychrun – The Coyotes defenseman is expected to return soon. An upper-body injury was originally expected to keep Chychrun sidelined until the second or third week of January.

Alexandre Texier – A non-COVID illness kept the Blue Jackets forward out of Tuesday's game against Tampa. He's been hot recently with nine points in his last eight appearances.

Jake Bean – Missed Tuesday's clash with the Lightning due to a non-COVID illness.

Elvis Merzlikins – Lower-body discomfort prevented Merzlikins from practicing on Monday or suiting up for Tuesday's game against Tampa. The fact that it's being referred to as 'discomfort' suggests it isn't a major injury, so hopefully he won't be out for too long.

Mike Smith – Will start against the Leafs on Wednesday. The Oilers netminder was just day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He'd been sidelined with an ankle injury for two months before making his return on December 29^th. While he made it through that game unscathed, Smith suffered this latest upper-body ailment in his next start on December 31^st. He surrendered 10 goals over those two starts.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. On January 1^st, the Oilers forward flew back to Edmonton to have tests done on his injury. As such, he probably won't be available for Wednesday's game in Toronto. Expect a more detailed update from the team after Nugent-Hopkins receives his test results.

Cam Talbot – Was taken out of Saturday's Winter Classic due to a lower-body injury. Talbot hasn't been practicing recently and won't be available for Thursday's game against the Bruins. As I write this, there's no timetable for his status beyond that.

Joel Eriksson Ek – On December 30^th, GM Bill Guerin announced that an upper-body injury would keep Eriksson Ek sidelined for a couple weeks.  

Jared Spurgeon – On December 30^th, we learned that Spurgeon would be sidelined for a couple weeks due to a lower-body injury.

Brendan Gallagher – On December 30^th, Montreal announced that Gallagher was day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He'll have some time to recover as the Canadiens don't play again until January 12^th. It's been a disappointing season for the diminutive giant, who's posted just 10 points in 25 games this season. 

Nico Hischier – New Jersey's captain is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The extent of his involvement in Wednesday's practice should give us an idea about his status for Thursday's game against the Blue Jackets. Whether or not he plays sounds like a matter of pain tolerance more than anything else.

Dougie Hamilton – Broke his jaw after taking a puck to the face during Sunday's game against Washington. He'll undergo surgery on Wednesday, after which we should get a better idea about possible recovery timelines. With Hamilton sidelined during Tuesday's game against the Bruins, Damon Severson stepped onto the top power-play unit.

Jonathan Bernier – The Devils netminder had hip surgery on Monday and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

Kyle Palmieri – Has been dealing with a lower-body injury but received medical clearance to participate in Monday's practice. There's no timetable for his return but coach Barry Trotz said that Palmieri isn't guaranteed to get back in the lineup once healthy because other players have been playing well.

Ryan Pulock – On November 17^th, the Islanders announced that Pulock would be sidelined for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. That timetable has run its course, but it doesn't sound like Pulock is ready to return just yet. He's been skating on his own and feels better, but hasn't practiced with the team.

Sean Couturier – On December 30^th, the Flyers announced that Couturier was week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He'd been placed in COVID protocol on December 26^th and was reportedly playing through several injuries before that. Couturier is scoring at a 48-point pace this season – well below the 70-point pace he's achieved in each of the last four campaigns. Hopefully he can return to full health and bounce back in the second half.

Ryan Ellis – On November 18^th, the Flyers said Ellis would be out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. It's been almost seven weeks since that announcement and it doesn't sound like Ellis has made much progress recently. At this point, there's no real timetable for his return.

Derick Brassard – Is out of COVID protocol and has been skating on his own. As I write this, he still hasn't participated in a full practice. Brassard's been out of action for almost a month now, so I don't expect he'll be able to jump into Thursday's game against the Penguins.

Evgeni Malkin – The Penguins superstar is close to returning. He won't face the Blues on Wednesday, but it certainly sounds like he'll be back at some point during the team's upcoming six-game road trip – which begins Thursday in Philly and ends in Vegas on January 17^th.

Jeff Carter – Is out of COVID protocol and was on the ice for Wednesday morning's skate, but he won't be in the lineup against St. Louis on Wednesday night.

Jaden Schwartz – Is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. With all the postponements, Seattle will have had nine days off in between games as their next contest is scheduled for January 10^th against Colorado. That gives Schwartz plenty of time to rest and recover.   

Nikita Kucherov – On Sunday, coach Jon Cooper said that after Tuesday's game in Columbus, Nikita Kucherov's status would likely be day-to-day. Well, Tuesday's game has come and gone, so Tampa's superstar should be very close to a return now.

Ondrej Kase – Won't be in the lineup on Wednesday against the Oilers after he tweaked something while working out on Tuesday. He's officially day-to-day.

Auston Matthews – Tested positive on a COVID-19 rapid test on Monday but PCR test results were negative. Follow up tests were also negative, so Matthews is good to go against Edmonton on Wednesday.

Alec Martinez – On Tuesday,Martinez skated with his teammates for the first time since sustaining a head injury in late November. He wasn't taking any contact but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Mark Stone – Is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury. It's encouraging that he took contact during Tuesday's team skate but his status for Thursday's game against the Rangers is still up in the air.

Robin Lehner – Has been day-to-day with a lower-body injury for two weeks now. He participated in Tuesday's morning skate and hasn't been ruled out for Thursday's clash with the Rangers.

Nicolas Hague – Is dealing with a wrist injury and the team wants to be cautious with the recovery process so that this doesn't become a chronic issue. As such, there's no concrete timetable for his return.

Max Pacioretty – Underwent wrist surgery on December 30^th and will be out of the lineup indefinitely. Coach Pete DeBoer said Pacioretty would be out long term and wouldn't be an option for at least a month. The Golden Knights forward has been excellent this season, tallying 12 goals and nine assists in just 16 appearances.

Jack Eichel – According to General Manager Kelly McCrimmon, Eichel's rehab is going well and McCrimmon is confident that Eichel will be in the lineup this season. As a reminder, Eichel was expected to need about three months to recover from artificial disk replacement surgery – which he had two months ago.

T.J. Oshie – Has been sidelined with a non-COVID illness and didn't participate in Wednesday's practice. As such, his status for Friday's clash with the Blues is up in the air.

Nicklas Backstrom – Has been sidelined with a non-COVID illness and didn't participate in Wednesday's practice. Backstrom's status for Friday's tilt with the Blues hasn't yet been determined.

Dmitry Orlov – Missed Wednesday's practice due to an upper-body injury. His status for Friday's game against St. Louis remains up in the air as I write this.

NHL's COVID-19 Protocol List

Over the past few weeks, many players have been placed in COVID protocol. There isn't really much information available for each case, so I've simply listed the date that each player entered protocol. In the past, players stayed sidelined for about 10 days, but the league and player's association agreed to let vaccinated individuals leave isolation five days after a positive COVID test, if they have no symptoms or if symptoms are resolving. That early exit is only possibly if allowed by local health authorities, which means players on certain teams may have to stay out longer than others.

Below is a list of fantasy-relevant players currently sidelined due to COVID.

Ryan Getzlaf – Entered COVID protocol on January 2^nd.

Trevor Zegras – Entered COVID protocol on December 28^th. Although he's completed the mandatory five-day quarantine, you need a negative test to exit isolation and he's still testing positive (as of January 4^th).  Fortunately it sounds like he feels great and doesn't have any symptoms.

Jake Debrusk – Entered COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Alex Tuch – Was placed in COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Kyle Okposo – Was placed in COVID protocol on January 3^rd.

Zach Werenski – Tested positive for COVID-19 on January 3^rd.

Connor McDavid – Tested positive for COVID-19 on January 4^th.  He's in protocol and won't play against the Leafs on Wednesday.

Tyson Barrie – Entered COVID protocol on January 5^th.

Sam Reinhart – Entered COVID protocol on January 3^rd.

Alex Iafallo – Entered COVID protocol on January 3^rd.

Dustin Brown – While he hasn't officially been activated from COVID protocol, he's completed his mandatory isolation and practiced with the team on Monday. He'd be eligible to face Nashville on Thursday if he's feeling well enough to play.

Jordan Greenway – Entered COVID protocol on January 3^rd.

David Savard – Was added to the COVID protocol list on January 4^th.

Alexander Romanov – Was added to the COVID protocol list on January 1^st.

Jake Allen – Was added to the COVID protocol list on December 27^th. His mandatory five-day quarantine should be complete but there's no rush to activate him as the Canadiens don't play again until January 12^th.

Jeff Petry – Was placed in COVID protocol on December 27^th. His mandatory five-day quarantine has run its course but there's no rush to activate him as the Canadiens don't play again until January 12^th.

Ben Chiarot – Entered COVID protocol on December 27^th. His mandatory five-day quarantine should be complete but there's no rush to activate him as the Canadiens don't play again until January 12^th.

Mike Hoffman – Entered COVID protocol on December 20^th. His mandatory quarantine should be done, but there's no rush to activate him as the Canadiens don't play again until January 12^th.

Yegor Sharangovich – Was placed in COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Pavel Zacha – Was placed in COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Artemi Panarin – Was placed in COVID protocol on January 2^nd.

Thomas Chabot – Entered COVID protocol on January 3^rd.

Ivan Provorov – Entered COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Claude Giroux – Entered COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Logan Couture – Entered COVID protocol on January 4^th.

Mario Ferraro – Was placed in COVID protocol on December 30^th. He's feeling well and should be back in the lineup on Thursday against Buffalo.

Alexander Wennberg – Entered COVID protocol on January 3^rd.Brock Boeser – Entered COVID protocol on December 29^th.