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.

Dakota Joshua – The Canucks resident beefcake, Joshua, is nearing a return to the lineup from a hand injury that he suffered while walloping Chicago's Mackenzie Entwhistle in a fight. Despite missing the last 18 games, he is still in the top-20 in league on the Hits leaderboard with 192. Joshua, alongside Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland formed one of the better third lines in the league in their time together. Expect that line to be reunited if he can return on Thursday and with the Canucks having the only game on Sunday night, he could be a potential add to help you win your week. He has 13 goals and 13 assists in 53 games this season.

Valeri Nichushkin – The mighty Russian has found himself on the injury report going into Thursday's contest against the league-leading Rangers. He is considered questionable with a lower-body injury. Coach Jared Bednar states this isn't a long-term thing, but it could keep him out of a couple of games. The fact that he hasn't been ruled out yet, is a positive sign. Nichushkin has been a boon for the Avalanche this season and supplements the top scorers well. His value has been fully realized on the lethal Avs power play where he himself has 15 goals (a career high). If he isn't able to suit up on Thursday, Artturi Lehkonen would likely find himself back on the top unit. Look for Ross "Cameo" Colton or Zach Parise to move up the lineup to short up the Avs second line. 

Elias Lindholm – Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that Lindholm is seeing a specialist regarding his undisclosed injury over the next few days and hopefully, we will get some clarity on what is ailing him. For their part, the Canucks haven't commented on that report and still consider Lindholm day-to-day. Lindholm arrived with a splash by scoring two goals in his first game with the team, only to fizzle out in the next 21 games with a paltry seven points. It would make sense that he is dealing with an injury based on his play. With the Canucks, he has amassed his worst SOG/60 and iSCF/60 numbers since his rookie year. That said, this is still a player who popped for 82 points in 82 games in 2021-2022. He wasn't on the ice for Wednesday's practice so I expect him to miss Thursday's game but keep an eye on him for Sunday's contest as he could be a premium stream on a one-game night for fantasy.

Thatcher Demko – Staying with the Canucks, they have recently placed their star netminder retroactively on LTIR as of March 9th which means he will be forced to miss at least 10 games and a total 24 days from the retroactive date before he can return. Hopefully, you were able to add journeyman Casey DeSmith in his absence as he has put up acceptable numbers as his replacement (3-2-1 in six games). DeSmith will get the bulk of starts with rookie Arturs Silovs serving as his backup. It is not sexy, but DeSmith needs to be added for your playoffs. He will be a volume started until Thatcher can return. As far as Demko is concerned, Coach Tocchet confirmed that the move to LTIR was so they could make room to call up a player and that his timeline would remain unchanged moving forward. For the team to make any noise this postseason, they will need Demko firing on all cylinders so there is really no need to rush him back.

Martin Necas – Necas missed practice on Wednesday and according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour, he wasn't feeling 100%. Check his status prior to game-time on Thursday and if he ultimately can't play, look for an increased role for Teuvo Teravainen and Stefan Noesen.

Mitchell Marner – The Leafs got pumped 6-3 on Tuesday and it's clear, they could sorely use the offensive pop of Mitch Marner who has now been ruled out for the next week by Coach Keefe. This will potentially make 10 straight games missed for a "minor ankle injury". Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi have been the beneficiaries of more power play time and even strength deployment as they have found themselves flanking mercurial center Auston Matthews on the top line. Domi has six assists in his last five games while Bertuzzi has three goals and one assist in his past four.

Morgan Rielly – Rielly missed last game with an upper-body injury and he could be in danger of missing another one on Thursday. Even prior to his injury, he had lost his spot as the quarterback on the top power play to young buck, Timothy Liljegren. While still a valuable dman on the Leafs, his fantasy value is capped if he can't find his way back onto that top unit. Rielly has enjoyed a bounce-back season of sorts with 51 points in 65 games. Even without the power play, he is a must start in pretty much any format. He hits, he blocks…. he juliennes!

Victor Hedman and Brayden Point were both back on the ice for the Lightning practice on Wednesday after missing Tuesday's contest with lower-body injuries. Get them back in your lineups.

Jack Quinn – Jack is back! This is great news for the Sabres and for fantasy managers who were hoping to take advantage of Buffalo's streaming schedule. The Sabres play Wednesday, Friday and Saturday so you could add Quinn now and get those precious off-nights in a week where they are notably scarce. Quinn is projected to skate on a line with "The Butler" Zach Benson and Dylan Cozens and he should see some time on the power play as well. Despite suffering through this season which has been marred by injuries, Quinn's future is bright with the Sabres and he should be a fantasy commodity for years to come. He is a speculative add for me. 

Alexander Barabanov – Barabanov injured his foot blocking a shot and was unable to finish Wednesday's contest. He was seen wearing a walking boot after the game and it is unclear if he will travel with the team. Even though the Sharks have basically been rostering an AHL team at times, his role has actually decreased this season with his ATOI going from over 18 minutes in 2022-2023 to just 15:52 this year. As an unrestricted free agent next season, I can't imagine the Sharks will pony up the cash to lock this man up. It may be time to head for greener pastures. 

Sonny Milano – Milano is currently managing an upper-body injury that could force him to miss some time. Although he hasn't officially been ruled out of Thursday's contest, he is trending that way. That means we won't get to see any more hand-eye magic or his beautiful head of hair for the time being. Look for further updates closer to game time. 

Gabriel Vilardi – There's been some good news on the Vilardi front after being diagnosed with an enlarged spleen; He was seen taking part in the morning skate on Wednesday and coach Rick Bowness mentioned that the next steps for Vilardi would be to continue to be pushed on-ice the coaches to see where his conditioning is at. Expect Vilardi to skate with the team moving forward as they assess his situation. It's a Vilardi Party!

Joel Eriksson Ek (lower-body injury) and Marcus Foligno (lower-body injury) are both possibilities for Thursday's game against the lowly Sharks. Foligno is only relevant in bangers leagues with PIMS and shouldn't be expected to provide much in the way of fantasy value. JEEK on the other hand, has been a beast this year and has been a massive win for fantasy managers that snaked him at pick 100 or later. He is on a 75-point pace with career-highs in hits (151), TOI (20:39) and goals (29). Even with the Wild's terrible schedule this week, this guy should be on your roster if healthy. 

Tyler Seguin – Seguin missed the game on Tuesday for rest purposes as he works his way back from a lower-body injury that kept him out of 11 games. Keep this in mind if you are considering rostering him as this may be a trend moving forward to keep the 32-year-old fresh for the playoffs. Seguin has 41 points in 61 games while mostly skating on the second line with Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene.

Ilya Samsonov – Sammy feels "ready to play" after battling a calf contusion. It looks as though Joseph Woll will get the start in Thursday's game against the Capitals but if all goes well, Samsonov should start the game on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. Sammy has a 19-6-7 record in 34 games this campaign which is good, but he has an atrocious -12.54 GSAA on the year. He had been playing better as of late and it will probably be a goalie split in Toronto unless someone can take the wheel.

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: https://t.co/eJSrN8Xlzp

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