Here’s the latest injury news from across the NHL! If you’re looking for information about a certain 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.

John Gibson – Made an early exit from Monday's game against Pittsburgh due to an upper-body injury. As I write this, his status for Wednesday's clash with the Coyotes remains up in the air. Regardless of Gibson's health, it would make sense for Lukas Dostal to start on Wednesday. Dostal has been excellent to start the year, boasting a 4-1 record, 2.79 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Matt Grzelcyk – Left Monday's game against the Panthers because of an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk was placed on long-term injured reserve, which comes with a mandatory absence of 10 games and 24 days. That means he's not eligible to return until November 25th.

Zach Benson – The 18-year-old forward recently aggravated a lower-body injury which had kept him out earlier in the campaign. He's officially sidelined on a week-to-week basis. Benson's first six appearances in the NHL have seen him tally two points, skating 13 minutes a night.

Devon Levi – Looked comfortable during Tuesday's practice, so there's a chance he's available for Wednesday's game against the Flyers – although it may be in a backup role. A lower-body injury has kept Levi sidelined since October 19th.

Eric Comrie – The Sabres' netminder suffered a lower-body injury during Friday's game against the Devils and will be sidelined for at least a few weeks. With Comrie injured, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will battle Levi for the starting role in Buffalo. While Levi is only just returning from injury, UPL is coming off a 23-save shutout against the high-powered Avalanche.

Dillon Dube – Didn't practice on Tuesday for maintenance reasons but then also missed Wednesday's morning skate, so there's now concern Dube won't be available for Wednesday's game against the Stars.

Adam Ruzicka – Wasn't on the ice for Tuesday's practice, so I don't expect he'll play against Dallas on Wednesday. Ruzicka left last week's game against the Rangers after he was hit into the boards and his arm was forced into an awkward angle. Subsequent reports indicated that he was day-to-day with a shoulder injury. Although Ruzicka didn't play in Sunday's Heritage Classic against Calgary, he practiced with the team beforehand and there was initially a chance of him playing in that game. I think that suggests he's not too far from 100% and should be back relatively soon.

Brett Pesce – Last week, the Hurricanes' defenseman had surgery to remedy a lower-body injury. He'll be sidelined for another one-to-three weeks.

Taylor Hall – Chicago's wingerhas been skating on his own recently. On October 23rd, we learned he'd be out week-to-week after aggravating a shoulder injury from earlier in the campaign.

Cale Makar – Didn't practice on Tuesday and is reportedly 'banged up' from Sunday's game against the Sabres. He may have gotten injured during an awkward crash into the boards after some contact from Kyle Okposo. Although he left the game following that collision, he did return to finish the contest. As I write this, his status for Wednesday's battle with the Blues remains up in the air.

Bowen Byram – Like Makar, Byram is currently banged up and questionable to play against St. Louis on Wednesday. Coach Jared Bednar expects one of the two defenseman to be available against the Blues.

Gabriel Landeskog – Heading into the season, we knew that Colorado's captain was expected to miss the entire 2023-24 campaign after undergoing a knee cartilage transplant back in May. Six months later, he says he's feeling good, fully active in the gym. Landeskog looks forward to skating soon, but acknowledges that there's a long road ahead. He'll have to shake off bad skating habits that formed while compensating for his knee injury prior to surgery, and he'll have to learn new techniques to prevent issues going forward. No NHL player has tried to return from a surgery like this, so there's a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the recovery process. The team remains optimistic he'll be available for the playoffs.

Patrik Laine – Although reports indicate he's getting better, Laine hasn't practiced recently and there's no timetable for his return. The Blue Jackets forward is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury, sustained after a late hit on October 20th against Calgary. Considering that (1) he took contact to the head, (2) the team is monitoring his status day-to-day, he hasn't been skating recently, and (4) there's no concrete timetable for his return, there's a good chance he's dealing with a concussion. Recovering from a concussion tends to be an unpredictable process because of how much symptoms can vary each day. That's why he needs to be evaluated frequently, and also why it's hard to narrow down a return date right now.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Left Monday's game against Boston after taking a hit to the head. Charlie McAvoy, who delivered the illegal hit, was handed a four-game suspension. There haven't been any substantial updates regarding OEL's status, but I think it's fair to assume that if he is injured, he's dealing with a concussion or something similar. There's a chance he passed all tests and is available for Wednesday's game against Detroit, but if he does have a head injury, expect an unpredictable recovery process without a concrete return date. Gustav Forsling should see an increased role if Ekman-Larsson ends up missing time.

Brandon Montour – Was a full participant in practice for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in mid-June. The procedure came with a recovery timetable of four-to-six months, so we've already surpassed the early end of that window. Although Montour was originally expected back in mid-December, the fact that he's already practicing with contact suggests he'll be back ahead of schedule – likely within the next few weeks. Remember, this is a defenseman that scored at a 75-point pace last year. If he's sitting on your league's waiver wire, you'd be wise to stash him on IR until he returns.

Aaron Ekblad – Sunday marked Ekblad's first full practice since he had shoulder surgery in June. The information from Montour's update above also applies to Ekblad, although Ekblad had his procedure a week after Montour, so he's expected to return roughly a week later.

Sam Bennett – Monday's battle with the Bruins was Bennett's first game of the campaign. He'd been sidelined with a lower-body injury since the preseason, initially seen wearing a walking boot on his left leg. Unfortunately, Bennett had to leave Monday's game early after Hampus Lindholm put weight on that same leg, presumably aggravating Bennett's previous injury. Although he was seen walking around after the game, his status for Thursday's dance with Detroit remains up in the air as I write this.

Jared Spurgeon – Minnesota's captain was a regular participant in Wednesday's practice. Since Spurgeon is on LTIR and required to miss 10 games, he isn't eligible to play on Thursday against the Devils, which is Minnesota's 10th game of the campaign. That being said, the fact he's practicing with contact suggests he should be back very soon. On October 6th, we learned Spurgeon would be sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury, suffered during a preseason clash with Chicago.

Matt Boldy – The 22-year-old forward practiced on Wednesday and it seems he'll be ready to return against the Devils on Thursday. Boldly has been out with an upper-body injury since October 14th.

Kirby Dach – On Tuesday, the Canadiens announced that Dach underwent knee surgery and is expected to make a full recovery before the 2024-2025 campaign begins.

Nico Hischier – New Jersey's captain has been sidelined since taking a hit to the head during Friday's battle with Buffalo. He isn't expected to travel with the team on its upcoming four-game road trip, which suggests he'll be out until at least November 10th, when the Devils return home to host the Capitals. Officially, Hischier is being evaluated day-by-day for what the team is calling an upper-body injury. That said, the signs suggest he's dealing with a concussion or something similar. 

Thomas Chabot – The Senators defenseman will be sidelined for four-to-six weeks due to a fracture in his hand. Sophomore blueliner Jake Sanderson was already seeing prominent minutes this year, but expect him to take on an even bigger role while Chabot is sidelined.

Artem Zub – Was labelled day-to-day after he took a puck to the side of the head on October 18th. Zub practiced with the team on Wednesday. Depending on how he responds, he could be available for Thursday's clash with the Kings.

Alex Nedeljkovic – The Penguins' netminder is on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with a lower-body injury. Being on LTIR requires a player to miss 10 games and 24 days of action, so Nedeljkovic isn't expected back any time soon. With Nedeljkovic sidelined, it looks like Magnus Hellberg will be backing up Tristan Jarry for the foreseeable future.

Alexander Barabanov – Although he doesn't require surgery, a broken finger will keep Barabanov out of the lineup for the next four-to-six weeks.

Logan Couture – Had been skating recently but suffered a setback and is being held off the ice until he feels better. The Sharks currently sit at the bottom of the league, winless through nine games. We knew going into the season that they didn't have playoff aspirations, but this abysmal start reinforces that. As a result, the team intends to give Couture as much time as he needs to rest before he starts skating again. It makes no sense to rush him back and risk this becoming a long-term issue. This is the second setback Couture has suffered during his recovery from a lower-body injury that's kept him out since training camp.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – Although it was encouraging to see him on the ice for the end of practice on Sunday, his return timetable hasn't changed. Vasilevskiy has been skating for about a week now, still on track to return at the end of November. As you probably know, shortly before the season began, he underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.

Jake McCabe – The 30-year-old defenseman has missed Toronto's last two games because of a groin injury, but here's hope he'll be able to practice at some point this week. The initial prognosis seemed optimistic, with coach Sheldon Keefe saying McCabe wasn't expected to miss significant time. Based on that assessment, McCabe could return Thursday against the Bruins, or more realistically, Saturday against the Sabres.

Nicolas Roy – Hasn't been skating recently and is officially day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. I don't expect he'll be available for Thursday's game against Winnipeg.

Max Pacioretty – According to coach Spencer Carbery, Pacioretty is expected to start skating soon. Once he gets a few solo skates under his belt, the next step will be practicing without contact, and then practicing with contact. There's still a lot of ground to cover, and we're still weeks, if not months away, from Pacioretty making his season debut, but it's encouraging that we're finally approaching that return runway. As a reminder, he's working his way back from a twice-torn Achilles tendon – torn once in August 2022 and once in January 2023.

Nicklas Backstrom – On Wednesday morning, Backstrom announced that he'd been taking some time away from the game due to his ongoing injury situation. He didn't go into detail, but it's fair to assume this is related to the hip issues he'd faced in recent years, which even affected everyday activities like walking and putting on shoes. In June 2022, Backstrom underwent a hip resurfacing surgery. Not many hockey players have had the procedure, and the two that did, Ed Jovanovski and Ryan Kesler, weren't able to play much longer afterwards. It sounds like Backstrom will be using this time to consider his next steps, one of which is likely retirement.