Injury Ward: Landeskog; Husso; Chychrun; Zegras; Hall & More
Brennan Des
2023-03-29
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.
Trevor Zegras – Left Monday's clash with Colorado due to a lower-body injury. After the game, coach Dallas Eakins said more evaluation was necessary in order to determine Zegras' status for Thursday's game in Seattle.
Troy Terry – Has been unavailable due to a personal matter.
Adam Henrique – On February 21st, we learned that the 33-year-old forward would be sidelined for five to six weeks due to an MCL sprain. With the short end of that timetable running its course, Henrique is back on the ice practicing with his teammates. It sounds like he wants to play a few games before the regular season ends, to feel more confident about his health heading into the offseason.
Taylor Hall – Continues to practice without taking contact. According to coach Jim Montgomery, the team doesn't have a definitive answer as to whether Hall will be back during the regular season. When Hall first got injured, the hope was he'd be back for the playoffs. The fact that a regular season return is still on the table seems encouraging to me. Regardless, we'll need to see him in a few full-contact practices before we can start anticipating a return.
Craig Anderson – The Sabres netminder is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Tage Thompson – After missing Monday's game against Montreal, the Sabres' star forward didn't participate in Tuesday's practice. Buffalo doesn't play again until Friday, so I don't think Tuesday's absence is cause for concern. I imagine the team wants to give him a sustained period off to allow this injury to heal, so he can return to action and help the Sabres in their final push for the playoffs. I expect Thompson will play against the Rangers on Friday.
Antti Raanta – Is really close to a return. Raanta could play during Carolina's upcoming trip – which includes stops in Detroit on Thursday and Montreal on Saturday. The 33-year-old goaltendertweaked something in his groin during a game against the Canadiens on March 7th.
Jonathan Toews – Was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate and is hoping to play a few times before the regular season ends. Getting some rest over the past two months has helped ease some of the debilitating symptoms he'd been experiencing due to chronic immune response syndrome and long COVID.
Gabriel Landeskog – Continues to skate by himself and reports indicate he's looking more comfortable on the ice. The next major step will be a full practice without contact, after which they'll need to see how he responds to a full session with contact. Colorado's captain has been on the shelf since undergoing knee surgery in October. He also had knee surgery in March 2022, but we recently learned that the procedure he underwent in October was a less serious arthroscopic procedure. Unfortunately, recovery has taken much longer than originally expected.
Pavel Francouz – Has been on the ice recently, mostly skating on his own, but also facing a few shots from Landeskog. The team expects to have a return date for Francouz soon.
Elvis Merzlikins – The Blue Jackets netminder is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Patrik Laine – On Friday, we learned the Finnish winger would be sidelined for two to four weeks because of a strained triceps muscle. It's a tough break for Laine as he was in great form prior to the injury, tallying 17 points in 12 games.
Scott Wedgewood – The Stars' netminder was a full participant in Monday's practice and it sounds like he's getting close to a return. What started out as a minor lower-body injury has now kept Wedgewood on the shelf for five weeks.
Ben Chiarot – Was on the ice for Monday's practice, which suggests he's close to returning from the upper-body injury that had him labelledweek-to-week.
Ville Husso – Detroit's netminder is currently being evaluated for a nagging lower-body injury. Although he's been feeling better lately, it's possible he misses the rest of the season. In his first year with the Red Wings, Husso holds a 3.01 GAA and .899 save percentage through 51 games.
Sam Bennett – Skated on Saturday but remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Gabriel Vilardi – The 23-year-old forward is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He didn't travel with the Kings as they kicked off their northwest road trip on Tuesday. Coach Todd McLellan didn't say whether Vilardi would join the team during this trip, so his status for the next three games (Thursday in Edmonton, Saturday in Seattle, Sunday in Vancouver) remains up in the air.
John Klingberg – Seemed comfortable during Monday's morning skate and could be available against Colorado on Wednesday. Klingberg has been sidelined with an upper-body injury that isn't believed to be too serious.
Kirill Kaprizov – Minnesota's star forward is expected to start skating in Minnesota this week. Since his team is on the road to play Colorado on Wednesday and Vegas on Saturday, he'll probably be skating by himself and won't be able to participate in a full practice until next week. Next Thursday's (April 6th) game against Pittsburgh marks four weeks since Kaprizov's injury announcement. Seeing as he was expected to miss three to four weeks, that game seems like the perfect target for a return.
Josh Anderson – Montreal's speedy power forward will miss the rest of the season due to a high ankle sprain.
Kirby Dach – Missed Tuesday's game against Philadelphia because of an upper-body injury. During Monday's game in Buffalo, concussion spotters pulled Dach for evaluation after he took a hit late in the game.
Roman Josi – Was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate but wasn't taking any contact. While it's encouraging that he's skating, the fact that he hasn't been cleared for contact suggests a return isn't imminent. Nashville's captain has been day-to-day with an upper-body injury since March 19th.
Filip Forsberg – According to coach John Hynes, Forsberg's recovery has stagnated recently. Since Forsberg's head (helmet) seemed to make contact with the ice when he got injured on February 11th, it's likely he's dealing with a concussion or something like it. That would explain why the recovery process has been so unpredictable thus far.
Matt Duchene – The 32-year-old forward is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He's been scoring at a 65-point pace this season – a far cry from last year's 90-point pace.
Mathew Barzal – New week, same update. As of March 27th, Barzal had not resumed skating.The team remains hopeful he'll be able to return before the end of the regular season, but there's no concrete timetable for his return. He's been out with a lower-body injury since February 18th.
Cam Talbot – The Senators netminder has been practicing lately and could be available to play backup against Philadelphia on Thursday. A mid-body muscle strain has kept Talbot out of the lineup since March 4th.
Jakob Chychrun – After just 12 appearances with his new team in Ottawa, Chychrun suffered a hamstring injury. He'll be sidelined for two to three weeks.
Carter Hart – The plan was for Hart to start against Montreal on Tuesday. However, shortly before the game, Philly announced he was day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Sean Couturier – Continues to practice with the team but he's running out of runway to return. The Flyers only have nine games left in their schedule. Given how hard Couturier has been working lately, I'm hopeful he'll be able to play a few games before the season ends. He's been out of the lineup since having back revision surgery in late October. Although it doesn't seem logical to bring him back and risk re-injury when the Flyers aren't in the playoff race, there may be some metal benefits for Couturier to get in a few games now if he's truly at 100%.
Travis Konecny – Continues to practice with the team, but there's no concrete timetable for his return. Coach John Tortorella said previously that Couturier is ahead of Konecny in the recovery process. Once/if Couturier comes back, we can start talking about Konecny's status.
Alexander Barabanov – The Sharks forward is officially day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Erik Gustafsson – Is away from the team due to a family matter.
Noel Acciari – The Leafs forward is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He won't be available for Wednesday's game against Florida.
Ryan O'Reilly – Has been on the ice recently, stickhandling and shooting pucks. On March 7th, O'Reilly had surgery to repair a broken finger. The procedure came with a recovery timetable of four weeks – of which one week remains. It sounds like he's still on track to meet that original timeline, targeting a return next week.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – According to coach Rick Tocchet, Ekman-Larsson isn't expected to return this season. An ankle sprain has kept the Canucks' defenseman sidelined since February 15th.
Logan Thompson – On March 23rd, Thompson made his first start after missing roughly five weeks with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, he left the game with about six minutes left. Reports indicate his departure was due to a lower-body injury that could be related to the one he just returned from. He hasn't been practicing recently and isn't expected to play this week.
William Carrier – On Monday, we learned Carrier still hasn't started skating. It's been roughly three weeks since the team announced he'd be out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury.
Reilly Smith – The Golden Knights forward is dealing with a lower-body injury. He wasn't on the ice for Monday's practice and isn't expected to play this this week. That likely rules him out of Thursday's game against San Jose and Saturday's game against Minnesota.
Adin Hill – As of Monday, Hill still hadn't resumed skating. With Vegas' other netminders getting healthy and Hill unlikely to return any time soon, I wouldn't expect him to see much action before the season ends. He's been sidelined with a lower-body injury for the past three weeks.
Shea Theodore – Left Tuesday's game against Edmonton with an undisclosed injury.