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.

Connor McDavid – This is not the news I'd like to be bringing you on this fine Wednesday, but the reigning Hart trophy recipient, will potentially be sidelined for at least a game with a lower-body injury. McDavid is currently listed day-to-day and is in danger of missing the contest against the Golden Knights. He is sitting at 31 goals and 99 assists on the season and it would be a shame if he wasn't able to surpass the century mark in assists. The Oilers are likely to exercise an abundance of caution when dealing with their superstar and I would suspect that he misses at least a game. If he is forced to miss some time, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should move up to the top line and look for Evander Kane or Adam Henrique to move up to the top power play unit. If it is Henrique, he would be a must-roster player until McDavid returns. 

Jack Hughes – The hard-luck season continues for Jack Hughes and the Devils. The speedy center has elected to have shoulder surgery on an injury that he has likely been dealing with for most of the year. He will miss the final four games of the campaign and unfortunately, will be no help to you in your quest for fantasy gold. Based on the way this season has gone for Hughes, I expect him to drop a little in fantasy drafts next year and I believe that to be a mistake. When healthy, Hughes is one of the premier players in the league and he is on an island alone, when it comes to rush offense and chances off the rush. He may be a player that has injury concerns his whole career but we can't draft that way. If he slips to the second round in fantasy drafts next season, he is an automatic draft as this is a player that should push for 100+ points from year to year.

Vince Dunn (UBI) and Jared McCann (LBI) still aren't practicing with the team as they recover from their respective injuries. There isn't exactly a beneficiary in terms of deployment, but take a look at Oliver Bjorkstrand if you are in need of some offense. He's been getting decent time on ice with Matty Beniers and Andre Burakovsky as well as time on the top power play. On the season, the All-Star has 20 goals and 37 assists in 77 games and is 30th overall in iCF/60. With the Kraken's remaining schedule, Bjorkstrand is the premier streamer and should be able to provide your team some value.

Alex Nylander – Nylander should be considered day-to-day after missing Tuesday's contest against the Lightning. He is managing a lower-body injury after leaving pregame warmups about halfway through. He had been given an increase in opportunity and had been doing something with it. He popped for 14 points in 25 games including 10 goals while seeing top-six minutes and deployment on the top power play. If he misses the Blue Jackets next game, he will only have two more games to crack the lineup. I don't believe that he will get this same level of opportunity with the team next season due to all the injured players who are likely returning. Still, it's been a nice showing from Nylander and he warrants a longer look for teams in need of offense.

Chandler Stephenson – Your friend and mine, Chandler Stephenson, won't play Wednesday and is out for personal reasons. He is listed as day-to-day moving forward and with him out of the lineup, look for newcomer Tomas Hertl and the grizzled veteran William Karlsson to pick up the slack down the middle. Vegas has a great schedule so keep an eye on Stephenson and be ready to activate him once he gets the green light.

Mason McTavish – It sounds like McTavish's 2023-2024 season has likely come to an end. He was seen wearing a restrictive knee brace after injuring himself on April 3rd against the Flames and with only four games left on the year, it is more than likely that he gets shut down. All in all, it was a stepping stone season for the 3rd overall draft pick. He managed 42 points in 64 games and at times, was a must-roster player. The future is bright for McTavish but he will need consistent deployment and some time on the top power play to reach his full offensive ceiling.

Thatcher Demko – Demko spent 30 minutes practicing with the team on Tuesday as was the plan according to head coach Rick Tocchet. The coaching staff are monitoring the situation and plan to ramp up Demko's on-ice activity in preparation to get him into some games before the playoffs. Tocchet did mention that they are basically taking it day by day but that Demko looked good. He did not mention when he would get back into the lineup but I would expect it will most likely be Saturday against the Oilers. The Canucks have gone 6-5-1 without their star netminder. Young buck Arturs Silovs, looks to be in line for another start on Wednesday against the Coyotes.

Elias Lindholm – Staying with the Canucks, they could see the return of defensive center, Elias Lindholm as soon as Wednesday. Lindholm has been sidelined with an arm/wrist injury that has held him out of the last seven games. If he does return, expect him to line up on the third line with Pius Suter and Ilya Mikhayev. He'll likely skate on the second power play unit as well so temper your expectations. 

Justin Faulk – Faulk is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury and it may mean the end of his regular season with the Blues only having four games left, including Wednesday. This comes at a terrible time for the Blues as they are battling for a wild card spot and Faulk was playing well with three points in his last three games. If he has played his last game this campaign, he will finish with two goals and 28 assists in 60 games. Jake Neighbours will miss Wednesday's game as well but he was on the ice in practice and could suit up for Friday's game.

Nino Niederreiter – Nino has no official timeline for his return as per head coach Rick Bowness but he was able to skate with the team in a recent practice. Bowness said he wants to see Niederreiter in a full practice before making a decision on when he will return. There is a chance he could play on Saturday as he hasn't yet been ruled out. He is dealing with a leg laceration that was apparently pretty nasty. Nino has 33 points in 75 games this season and has been quietly effective as a middle six forward.

"YES! It is Ned Nederlander!"

Mikko Rantanen – Concussions are tricky things and when one of your star players has one approaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you can expect that the team will take their time clearing him for action. That appears to be the case with Rantanen. The Avalanche don't play until Saturday and then it’s a back-to-back on Saturday/Sunday. I expect him to get into one if not both of those games for the team and get right back to his regular deployment. While this is frustrating for fantasy managers, it is clear that players and coaches don't give a hill of beans about our fantasy teams and that's just hurtful. All jokes aside, this is a best-case scenario for the Avs as they will need Rantanen's firepower if they wish to lift the ultimate prize at the end of the year.

Tim Stutzle – Timmy Stutz is dealing with a lingering upper-body injury that has kept him out the past three contests but he is trending towards playing on Thursday versus the Lighting. Stutzle hasn't been able to reach the heights of last season where he went off for 90 points in 78 games. The Senators as a team have been disappointing to say the least considering the offensive firepower they possess. I expect Stutzle's draft stock to lower in the offseason and I believe him to be a prime bounce-back candidate moving into next year. While last year may have been his ceiling, I think he has more in the tank and should easily surpass his output this year of 70 points in 75 games. His shooting percentage alone, tells a story of a player that has been massively unlucky. It is down from 17.1% (last year) to 9.4% (this season). Expect that to regress positively and his production will likely land near point-per-game territory.

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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Please follow me on Twitter/X @BlakeCreamerAG and come and check out my fantasy hockey musings on the Apples and Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast. Celebrate your day. Bye for now.

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