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. 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.

Torey Krug / STL – Krug (ankle) unfortunately has indicated to St. Louis management that he will not be returning to the team and plans to end his career due to his injuries. This is always one of the worst bits of news I get to write about here on the Injury Ward, and I wish Torey the best of luck in anything he decides to do in the future as he joins the dead-ankles club beside Ryan Whitney and many others.

Aaron Ekblad / FLA – Ekblad (suspension) will return to the lineup for tonight’s game vs the Maple Leafs. Ekblad was suspended two games for a hit to the head on Brandon Hagel. This was his second suspension this season, as he had just returned from a 20-game absence due to violating the league’s performance enhancing drug policy. Huge boost for Florida after losing game one on Monday.

Josh Morrissey / WPG – Morrissey (upper body) was rubbed out along the end boards by Oskar Sundqvist in game seven this past weekend, and appears to be worse for wear. He ended up leaving that game and did not return. He is now listed as day-to-day and has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game as the Jets open up their second-round series against the Dallas Stars. Josh participated in practice this morning in a regular jersey which bodes well for him being in the lineup soon.

Alex Pietrangelo / VGK – Pietrangelo (illness) missed out on last night's (Tuesday) game one clash with the Oilers and early on it looked like they would be fine. Late in the period the Oilers began to change the game and turned it into the "call the ambulance, but not for me" meme. For Vegas' sake, here’s to hoping he is good to go for game two on Thursday night.

Pavel Dorofeyev / VGK – Dorofeyev (undisclosed) was another key player to miss out on game one in Vegas. There is some good news on him as he has been skating prior to game one and is a possibility to be back in the lineup for game two. 

Mark Scheifele / WPG – Scheifele (upper body) missed the full game seven on Saturday in Winnipeg and as luck would have it the Jets pulled off the series win in overtime without their captain and number one defenseman. Scheifele skated in a regular jersey and alongside his typical top-line wingers during line rushes, ahead of game one against Dallas tonight (Wednesday). He is considered to be another game time decision. 

Jason Robertson / DAL – Robertson (knee) is yet another game time decision that could change the outlook of this Winnipeg vs Dallas game one. Robertson missed the first round and would be a very welcome addition to a Star's lineup that just took down a recent Stanley Cup winner in the Colorado Avalanche. He was taking line rushes with regular linemates in practice, so it looks like it might be leaving towards a green light.

Anthony Stolarz / TOR – Stolarz (head) took a glancing blow to the head from the Panthers infamous Sam Bennet in game one of their second-round series against Florida. Whether it warranted a suspension or not is a point of contention at the moment, but player safety apparently saw nothing in the clash as it went unpunished. Stolarz will not start in game two as Joseph Woll has been tabbed for that honor Wednesday morning by head coach Craig Berube. Anthony was released from hospital yesterday (Tuesday) and is recovering at home.

William Eklund / SJS – Eklund (wrist) has had successful surgery on his injured wrist on Monday. Eklund finished second in points on the Sharks this season with 58 in 77 games while averaging 19:33 of ice time a game. This was good for second on the team behind only their franchise player Macklin Celebrini. 

Miro Heiskanen / DAL – Heiskanen (knee) has not been ruled out for Wednesday's game against Winnipeg. It doesn't sound promising though as head coach Pete Deboer said on Tuesday he does not know if he will be available.

Jesper Bratt / NJD – Bratt (shoulder) has declared that he will be undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. It was also said that he should be ready for the beginning of training camp in the fall. Bit of a surprise on this one.

Luke Hughes / NJD – Hughes (shoulder) has suffered the same fate as Bratt and has already successfully undergone shoulder surgery. He is also expected to be available for the beginning of the Devil's training camp in September.

Joel Eriksson Ek / MIN – Eriksson Ek (abdomen) is another name for the offseason surgery chronicles as he will have a procedure done on a core muscle (ouch). He is expected to be ready for the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Hopefully this explains his fall from fantasy grace this past season.

Dylan Holloway / STL – Holloway (lower body) had a breakout season after signing an offer sheet and being shipped out of Edmonton. His season was cut short right before playoffs and unfortunately joins the list of players now recovering from offseason surgery. Hopefully this doesn't affect his play going forward as he was an invaluable waiver pick up for bangers leagues this year.

Logan Stanley / WPG – Stanley (undisclosed) is day-to-day and will be a game time decision for game one against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Stanley is a minus-two in five games played this postseason while averaging 11:38 of ice time a night. 

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. I have been away from writing for more than a month, and I am very excited to get back into the NHL full time for round two. Enjoy the best part of the season and have a great week people!