Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to the newest edition of the Injury Ward. Here you will find the latest NHL injury updates and also which players may benefit from these situations. My name is Blake Creamer and I will be tackling this topic every single week. I want this article to work for you, so if there are players you want to see, or anything you want added, please reach out to me on Twitter/X @BlakeCreamerAG. Now, let's get to business.

Timo Meier – It has been a season to forget so far for the beleaguered Devils forward as he has seen a sharp decline in his deployment and his performance. Now, he is laid up with another injury, this time to his "medium-body". Meier is without a return timeline but head coach Lindy Ruff mentioned that he's hoping it "shouldn't be too long". While with the Sharks, Meier was known for his ability to rack up shots and hits but that hasn't been the case here in New Jersey. He has just 15 points in 28 games which is good for a 44-point pace. Those returns are underwhelming to say the least, but it has been noted that Meier has likely been playing through an undisclosed injury throughout most of the season. Hopefully, when he returns, he will be fully healthy so we can see how he actually fits with this team. I wasn't as high on Meier as others were in draft season, due to the fact that he probably wasn't going to get the same deployment and his role on the top power play wasn't set in stone. I still expected a better result than this, however, and he can still be a very valuable player for your squad. We just need to temper expectations. I would expect a 65- to 70-point pace for Meier upon return.

– "Finding Timo"

Kirill Kaprizov – The Wild's star winger has been given a one-to-two-week timeline to return from his upper-body injury sustained in a game against the Jets last week. He took two cross checks to the back from career dingus, Brendan Dillon. He was put on injured reserve recently but that does not change the timeline. The injuries are piling up in Minnesota but the good news is that Kap's isn't long term. Kaprizov had really found his stride prior to this with 10 points in his last six games. The Wild will have to rely heavily on Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek to keep them afloat while Kap recovers. Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman will get fantasy boosts as well with Hartman skating on the top power play unit.

Filip Gustavsson – When it rains, it pours and it feels like monsoon season for Minnesota right now. Their top tendy is out as well and his injury could take a little longer to recover from than Kap's. Gustavsson was unable to finish his most recent contest against the Jets and is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He had been playing well as of late with wins in five of the last six games after starting the season with only two wins in the first 11 so this one stings just a bit extra. Marc-Andre Fleury will hold down the fort and should be added while Gus is out. There has been talk of adding blue-chip goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt but that might be premature as he is injured himself currently, and we don't yet know the severity of Gus's situation. For now, roll with MAF and put Wallstedt on your watch-list. There is no need to add him at this time unless you have a free NA spot in your league, and he's likely already owned in any type of dynasty league.

Josh Anderson – Anderson tweaked his leg on a seemingly innocent play in the Canadiens most recent game against the Stars and was unable to finish. He had been skating alongside Sean Monahan and Jesse Ylonen as well as the second power play unit. Anderson is in the midst of another down season and is pacing for a measly 24 points despite getting reasonable deployment and some power play time. Consider him day-to-day at this point until we get an update but look for a slight increase in deployment to players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Jesse Ylonen and even Brendan Gallagher. None of these players are adds unless you are in a deeper league format.

Semyon Varlamov – It looks as though Varlamov came back a bit too early from his most recent injury as he was unable to complete his most recent contest against the Avs. He was in the butterfly position and made what looked to be a routine save, but eventually checked himself out of the game and Ilya Sorokin came on in relief. He is still being evaluated so keep an eye out for an official update and consider him day-to-day until then. Ken Appleby has been recalled on an emergency basis. That show ain't no good for Varly. The Islanders as a team, are not the same defensive juggernaut they have been in years past. At all strengths, they are currently the 2nd worst team in SCA/60, 3rd worst in HDCA/60 and dead last in the league in CA/60. The duo of Varlamov and Sorokin has been outperforming the expected goals against by a large margin. I don't see the Islanders rushing Varlamov back this time, so Sorokin does get a boost as they have been splitting starts at times throughout the campaign.

Mats Zuccarello – Just a quick update on the Zucchini Man: He is right on schedule with his recovery and is still week-to-week but he was seen skating at practice. Rest up king.

Marcus Foligno – This beefer is still dealing with a lingering issue according to Wild head coach John Hynes, and was a game-time decision for Tuesday's game against the Flames. Unfortunately, he was unable to go so his next opportunity will come on January 4th against the Lightning.

Jake Oettinger – Some good news on the injury front for the Dallas Stars as their young netminder is no longer considered week-to-week with his lower-body injury. Scott "The Wedgie" Wedgewood has filled in admirably as the Stars have six wins in their last nine games with him at the helm. Look for Otter to return sooner rather than later.

Charlie Lindgren – The news regarding Lindgren's injury is much better than initially feared. Originally, head coach Spencer Carbery stated that Lindgren would be out "for the foreseeable future" but has since changed his tune. According to the coach, Lindgren could find himself in game action as soon as this Friday against the Hurricanes. Lindgren has been a bright spot in a dull season so far for the Caps and his play has warranted the extra starts he has received. Darcy Kuemper is still the number one goalie in Washington but that is not a lock by any means. Lindgren has been the superior tendy with a GAA of 2.27 to go along with a .928 save percentage including nine quality starts in his 15 games. He is a goalie that deserves a longer look and I can see a scenario where he takes the crease outright from Kuemper. Keep an eye on his status and stream him in when it makes sense for your team but be ready to pounce if he starts stringing games together.

Max Pacioretty – Patches is back and he will make his season debut on Wednesday against the Devils. It will be interesting to see where he lines up but a spot on the top power play unit seems like a forgone conclusion. The Caps power play has made its way out of the league basement but they still have the 4th worst conversion rate in the league. They need some shooters and Pacioretty is known for that. In the past, he has been an excellent source of shots and chances so maybe this opens things up for Alex Ovechkin a little more. There have been signs of life from Ovi but he has yet to deliver the production most people expected going into this campaign. The funny thing is that the Caps are still in a playoff spot despite the poor output from Ovechkin and the subpar offensive play from the rest of the team. Reinforcements have arrived in the form of Patches and even Ethan Bear. Pacioretty should be a priority add at this point and we can decide what to do with him after this week. He will skate with Dylan Strome and rookie Matthew Phillips. He is worth taking a chance on, no question.

Isac Lundestrom – The former first-rounder made his season debut on Wednesday for the Ducks and lined up on a bottom-six line with Brett Leason and Brock McGinn. Lundestrom isn't fantasy relevant at this time but with the Ducks schedule for the rest of the season, he may be someone who pops up on your radar during their ideal streaming weeks.

Anthony Beauvillier – The Blackhawks are a walking infirmary at the moment and they've got another casualty to add to the patient list. Beauvillier was unable to finish his last game after taking a hit along the boards and suffering what looked to be a wrist injury. He was skating on the top line with Connor Bedard so look for Nick Foligno to take that spot back. Foligno could be rostered in a pinch but lower your expectation significantly. Besides Bedard and maybe Seth Jones, Chicago is a fantasy hockey wasteland.

Seth Jones – According to head coach Luke Richardson, Jones is set to start skating on his own during the upcoming five-game road trip for the Blackhawks but isn't expected to play. Still, this is a good sign for Jones as he rehabs his most recent shoulder injury. In the meantime, Kevin Korchinski will man the top power play unit and get most of the offensive opportunity.

Justin Faulk – Faulk remains without a timetable to return to the ice after suffering a lower-body injury in the final minutes of the team's December 29th meeting against the Avalanche. The hope is that he can start skating soon and the team will update his status shortly. Consider him day-to-day until we get more information.

Troy Terry – Terry has been ruled out for Wednesday's game while he nurses a lower-body injury so look for Ryan Strome and Max Jones to skate with talented center Trevor Zegras. Fourth line center Sam Carrick has been taking reps with the top power play unit so keep an eye on that situation as well.

William Karlsson – "Wild Bill" Karlsson has just been ruled out for the next two games as stated by head coach Bruce Cassidy. This stings, as he has been an unexpected source of fantasy production for this team and has been a waiver wire wonder. He is pacing for 69 points this season which is extremely nice but that is on the back of a 16.1 SH% and some amazing work on the power play where he already has 11 PPP. Look for Chandler "Bing" Stephenson to take his place on the top unit.

That's it for this week's article. Thank you so much for reading. If you are interested in chatting with me one-on-one, you can reach me on a fantasy sports app called Didit. Click this link to download the app: xf7fv.app.link/pPRjU2myyFb
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