Welcome to another edition of the Injury Ward. Here you will find the latest NHL injury updates with a focus on fantasy-relevant news 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 X @BlakeCreamerAG. Now, let's get to business.

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.

Aleksander Barkov – The Panthers might be out of the woods when it comes to team injuries. Matthew Tkachuk has recently returned from a week-long absence due to illness and now it looks like Barkov traveled with the team on their current road trip with the hopes of playing on Saturday against the Islanders. He's been dealing with a lower-body injury after slamming into the boards awkwardly on October 11. Anton Lundell will lose some value when that happens although he has certainly made an impression with seven points in his last five games with Barkov out. This is a good data point if Sasha has to miss any time moving forward. Barkov has one assist in just two games this season. 

Luke Hughes/Brett Pesce – Some positive news for the Devils defence-core as both Luke Hughes and newcomer Brett Pesce will be back in the lineup on Thursday after recovering from their respective injuries. Pesce won't be fantasy-relevant this year but the addition of Hughes on the backend muddies the waters for fantasy managers, especially if you are rostering Dougie Hamilton. Last year, Hughes famously supplanted the incumbent Hamilton off of the top power play unit and there is worry that he may do that again this season. The good news is that the Devils power play is converting at the 10th best rate in the league so there isn't a lot of incentive to change it up at this point. Dougie should be secure for now but with Hughes back in the mix, he could have a shorter leash and if they start slumping, Hughes could find himself in the driver seat again. This wouldn't be catastrophic for Dougie but it would cap his points ceiling. Time will tell but one thing is for sure: The Devils should improve in goal suppression where they are currently ranked 8th worst in the league. Huzzah!

Anthony Duclair – Duclair was enjoying a decent start to the year with three points in five games while playing a career-high 16:30 and skating on the top line and power play until he appeared to twist his left knee while taking a shot. Today, the team announced that he will miss the next four-to-six weeks with the injury. Simon Holmstrom has moved up to the top line with Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal and as far as the power plays go, HC Patrick Roy has put them in a blender so there isn't a true beneficiary as of yet. This is a tough break for the Duke, but he should be somewhat relevant when he comes back, especially if he can win back his spot with the man-advantage.

Ryan Hartman – An upper-body injury will keep Ryan Hartman out of his third consecutive game on Thursday night but there hasn't been a lot of updates on what he is actually dealing with. He is traveling with the team so there is reason for optimism. Marco Rossi will continue to get an ice-time boost until Hartman returns. He has two goals in four games prior to the injury.

Joseph Woll – The oft-injured tendy is making his return to the crease on Thursday night. The Leafs have activated him off of the injured reserve and will start him against the St. Louis Blues. Dennis Hildeby has been assigned to the AHL in a corresponding move. Anthony Stolarz has been terrific with Woll on the shelf but he could cede the number one spot to Woll especially if he can string together a couple of good outings. The Leafs are high on Woll and he will get every opportunity to prove himself moving forward. For fantasy purposes, it will likely be close to a split between the two stoppers with Woll getting the slight edge. 

Shea Theodore – After missing Tuesday's game against the Kings due to illness, Theodore will make his return to the lineup on Thursday. He has been stellar in six games this year with one goal and six assists while getting the full power play one treatment. HC Bruce Cassidy tricked us in the preseason by saying that Noah Hanifin would be the Golden Knights' PP1 quarterback, but it has been the offensively gifted Theodore who has been running with it. It was always the right choice, and for those of you who took a chance on Theo, we could be looking at a 60-point season if this deployment holds. 

Sean Durzi/John Marino – The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club could not have started any better as they rattled off three straight wins off the back of some of their young talent but things have settled a bit with the team only winning one of their last four. The loss of Durzi and the fact that newcomer John Marino has yet to even suit up for the team has not helped matters. The team announced that Marino will be out for three-to-four months with a lower back injury while Durzi, who was playing well prior to the injury, will miss the next five-to-six months after injuring his right shoulder. In their absence, look for Michael Kesselring and Juuso Valimaki to receive a boost in TOI and top D-man Mikhail Sergachev, to play ALL the minutes. 

Robert Thomas – He's not crazy, he's just a little unwell. His name is Robert Thomas and he is currently injured. Thomas was injured in Tuesday's game against the Jets after blocking a Neal Pionk bomb in the third period. Subsequent X-rays revealed that he had fractured his ankle and that will land him on the injured reserve. This is a tough loss for the Blues and they will need contributions across the board to replace their best player's production. Brayden Schenn will see an increase in opportunity and is looking like Thomas' direct replacement at even strength and with the man-advantage. There could be some value there if you are looking at streaming some Blues. 

Jared Spurgeon – Spurgeon will make the trip to Philadelphia with the team ahead of Saturday night's clash against the Flyers. He's been dealing with a lower body-injury that has held him out of the previous five games but his return appears imminent and it could happen on Saturday. Spurgeon's offensive production will be limited but in category leagues, he can provide you some value as a block streamer. He has a better than average shot rate from the back end as well and could moonlight on the top power play if coach John Hynes wants to switch things up at some point.

Darcy Kuemper – The Kings have held their own with Kuemper on the shelf, going 2-1 in the last three games but they may be just treading water. Kuemper had a great start to the year before getting starched for eight goals in a wild overtime loss against the Senators. That is very much the outlier, and even without their top defenceman in Drew Doughty, the Kings are still comfortably in the top half of the league in scoring chance and shot suppression. He will miss at least one more game as "Big Save" David Rittich will get the start on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. His next chance to play will be Saturday against the Utah Hockey Club. Kuemper is 1-0-2 on the campaign with a 3.59 GAA to go with an .889% save percentage. Expect those numbers to improve.

William Karlsson – "Wild Bill" Karlsson, will miss one more game with an undisclosed injury that he has been dealing with since the pre-season. He skated in a non-contact jersey during Monday's practice and recently head coach Bruce Cassidy, detailed the plan for his return. Karlsson will make his season debut on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks and he should slot right into his usual spot in the middle-six with some access to the power play. Which unit he will play on remains to be seen, but he will be a low-end fantasy option with a chance for more. It's hard to tell when Karlsson will go off with one of his SH% benders. He shot 17.1% last year and scored 30 goals after two straight seasons shooting under 10%. That is a lot of variance, but he still has some bits and pieces that make him rosterable. Check his status prior to gametime and fire him up. 

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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