Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everyone. Welcome to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday I will be chauffeuring you through injury news and updates from around the NHL, and for this week the Four Nations tournament as well. I'll do my best to offer useful analysis and opinion as it relates to fantasy throughout. As always I’d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.

Quinn Hughes / VAN & USA – Hughes (oblique) will sit out of the four nations. This is great news for fantasy owners and Canucks fans alike. Vancouver is just not the same without Quinn in the lineup. As one of the premier defenseman in the league that should be fairly obvious. Oblique injuries are fickle. Only time I've dealt with one, I got it from a visit to the chiropractor and didn’t even know I had a strain until I went to take a shot in warm ups and collapsed. It is a very, very weird feeling injury to deal with so hopefully this rest can nip it in the bud.

Travis Konecny / PHI & CANADA – Konecny (illness) was absent from Team Canada practice yesterday prior to their tournament opening clash with Sweden. No word yet on if he plays tonight but unless he's on his deathbed I would have to assume he pushes through for this opportunity to represent his country.

Mikko Rantanen / CAR & FINLAND – Rantanen (lower body) was questionable for Finland this week but it seems he has joined the team and is ready to go. 

Connor Ingram / UTA – Ingram left Sunday's game this past week roughly five minutes in after taking a 98 MPH arrow from Ovechkin to the clavicle from about 20 feet away and that is nightmare fuel, especially without an official update since. Ovechkin can turn any goalie into prime Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks movie, feeling like they are tied to the posts and being bombarded. There was an interesting tidbit on twitter the other day from Lightning goalies past and present speaking about how Ovechkin’s shot is so different from anything else they face not only because of the stopping power behind it, but the fact that his shot doesn't come off his blade flat, they knuckle and dip and dive at the most inconvenient times. If you've ever looked into the mechanics behind a knuckleball in baseball, having a puck do that has to be even less predictable. The knuckleball is definitely worth a deep dive on Youtube.

Nikita Kucherov / TBL – Kuchevrov (upper body) missed the Lightning's clash with Montreal on Sunday. John Cooper said that he tweaked something, and couldn't go but that it is good timing for him to receive rest over the international break (gosh that's weird to type out in regards to hockey). Lots of injuries that have been nursed throughout the season are starting to come out of the woodwork in this past week leading up to the Four Nations. Just as often as they are coming out, we are receiving not much of an explanation or update on them. I would treat most of these injuries as though these players will be coming back out of the break, although we may not get those updates until NHL teams are back practicing. 

Brandon Montour / SEA – Montour (upper body) was forced to leave Saturday's game against the flame's and did not return. No updates from the team yet. Vince Dunn has been the recent recipient of 52% of power play time on his own, and 12% as a duo with Montour. Montour on his own took the remaining 33%. Even though Dunn is the power play one guy already, we should still see that individual number rise for him while Montour is out, if his absence extends past the Four Nations.

Thatcher Demko / VAN – Just when we thought he was out, we pull him back in! (The injury ward that is). Demko (undisclosed) has been a mainstay at the injury ward this year. We haven't even had time to wash the sheets in his room yet and here he is at our door again. This really sucks for Vancouver fans, and Demko owners alike. After the Canucks went on a heater for the full season last year it’s been a bit of a disaster since. Through no fault of their own, there has been player in-fighting, constant drama, and that is just the cherry on top of Thatcher Demko having the struggle of the year to try to stay in the lineup. I really hope it comes out that this is unrelated to his issues with his knee because since the start of February Demko has been lights out posting a shutout and two wins in three games to go along with his .958 save percentage. The month of January though? Two wins and five losses with an .868. Kevin Lankinen has not been anything to scoff at this season. He was actually the better of the pair for the majority of it, and he holds a 19-8-7 record with a .905. If the volume is there with Lankinen he is worth a shot, especially if Hughes is in the lineup. 

Joel Eriksson Ek / MIN & Finland – Eriksson Ek (undisclosed) has had some struggles this year as well, missing 15 games earlier on in the campaign. This is relevant because John Hynes has stated that even though Joel missed this past Saturday's game due to the injury it is not related to the prior one and he is not very concerned about it. That's good to hear especially since Eriksson Ek has decided to go along with Sweden to the Four Nations. After a career year last year, Eriksson Ek has been out of the gates crawling and left many owners with their pants down wondering where it all went wrong. Well, it started by being off of Kaprizov's line to start the year and ended with them rarely playing on the same sheet of ice together due to injury. Eriksson Ek's value is unfortunately tied pretty heavily to Kirill the thrill as much as every other player on the Wild.

Mathew Barzal / NYI – Barzal (knee cap) has had surgery to correct a minor problem in his knee cap and the recovery time is expected to be roughly six weeks. Speaking of disappointing campaigns, sheesh. No idea how much of Barzal's downturn we can equate to his injury troubles this year but it's a safe bet that he is better than he has shown to date in the 24-25 season. 

Nico Hischier / NJD – Hischier (upper body) has missed the Devils' last five games before the break after taking a cross check to the mid-section from Nick Suzuki. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has since said that they would be surprised if Nico was unable to return to the lineup for their first game after the break on February 22nd. Welcome news to a sputtering New Jersey team who recently lost the likes of Jacob Markstrom, who has been top-five in wins by a goalie all season to go with his .912 save percentage on the year. The Devils need to turn things around now as they have only managed to win eight of their last twenty games.

Igor Shesterkin / NYR – Luckily for Ranger's fans, there is no team Russia at the Four Nation's and Shesterkin (upper body) can rest the injury that caused him to miss New York's last game before the break. The Rangers have been heating up as of late thanks in no small part to the acquisition of J.T. Miller. The man has even turned Mika Zibanejad into a demon again. Making miracles happen over there. Shesterkin's timeline for return is said to be one-to-two weeks.

Kirill Kaprizov / MIN – No new updates on Kaprizov, as he is still slated back sometime in late February or early March, four weeks after his successful surgery on January 27th.

Thanks again for reading, and please give me a follow, you can find me here on Twitter/X @LOGoalz for any questions, concerns, or abuse you may want to shower me with. Have a great week and enjoy the best-on-best hockey we have been deprived of, people!