Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome back to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday and Sunday I will be taking 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. At the end of the article is the Quarantine section, where any players out due to illness will be listed. As always I’d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.

Injuries / Leaves

Cale Makar / Colorado Avalanche – Makar (upper body) is expected to miss a few games after head coach Jared Bednar told reporters Wednesday, “He’s going to miss some time here. Nothing serious, though,” Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports. Makar's rate stats are down across the board this season, even with the Avalanche's historic start. When I say his stats are down, it’s still not a terrible season for a defenseman since he’s still two points clear of a point per game player, and is firing almost 2.5 SOG/GP. Makar has been one of the top, if not the top fantasy defenseman for the past six seasons or so, but he’s been passed this season by the likes of Evan Bouchard and Zach Werenski for top dog. Whether that rings true for the rest of the season, or continues into next season is anyone’s guess but one thing is certain, he has many seasons of elite production left in him regardless. 

Cutter Gauthier / Anaheim Ducks – Gauthier left the Ducks game on Monday against the Maple Leafs and did not return due to an upper-body injury. His status for the weekend’s games remains in question. Gauthier has been enjoying an amazing sophomore season in Anaheim. With 65 points in 73 games played, he’s shooting at an insane clip, averaging 3.7 SOG/GP. I love players that shoot a lot. Shots translate to points more than anything. Gauthier has been seeing an average of 17:17 TOI per game and over 50 percent of powerplay time this season as well, a big jump from his rookie season. He’s come a long way from only two points in six games at the Brick Invitational tournament here in Edmonton. That was a joke, he was just a child then. 

Jake Sanderson / Ottawa Senators – Sanderson (upper body) was still not available versus Florida on Tuesday, making it a total of 12 games in a row that he has had to sit out. In the wake of last night's loss to the Panthers, which saw the Sens give up five straight goals in the first period, Sanderson is being sorely missed. Head coach Travis Green was irate at his squad behind the bench, laying into them for their performance early on in the game. Sanderson was practicing in a non-contact jersey on Tuesday morning, and it is still unknown if he will be available for Ottawa’s game on Thursday versus Buffalo at home. 

Brandon Hagel / Tampa Bay Lightning – Hagel is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and is expected to be unavailable versus the Penguins on Thursday, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Since 2023-24, Hagel has been outstanding for the Lightning organization. He’s up to nearly three shots per game this season, and he’s already got 73 points in his 69 games played. He kills penalties, and even though he only has one short handed point to show for it so far in 2025-26, he managed to put up seven last season. 

Aleksander Barkov / Florida Panthers – As expected, Barkov (knee) won’t return before the end of the 2025-26 season, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now on Monday. Barkov has missed the whole season this year, and some people got pretty excited when he was starting to get some time on the ice during recovery recently. With the way Florida is shutting down half of its roster, it was always unlikely that he would suit up before 2025-26 came to a close, but that is now confirmed. Back to back Stanley cups, directly into a tank is a bit of a scary prospect for the league if Florida manages to get their hands on a top-10 pick in this off season’s draft. 

Sam Reinhart / Florida Panthers – Reinhart (foot) is expected to miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, according to Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ official site on Tuesday. Almost every single rate stat for Reinhart is down slightly this season. It makes sense when you factor in who the Panthers roster has been missing for the majority of their season, having played so many games in the last two years finally catching up to lots of them. This is also seen in Reinhart's ice time, having been elevated almost a full minute on average this year. 

Artyom Levshunov / Chicago Blackhawks – Levshunov (hand) will not play again in 2025-26, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. Levshunov is the future on the Blueline for Chicago, having been drafted second overall in 2024. He joins third overall pick from 2025 Anton Frondell, who just joined the team from the top Swedish league after winning the championship last season playing with, and excelling amongst men. Levshunov scored at just under a point per game in the NCAA two seasons ago, but wasn’t anything to write home about in the AHL offensively last year at just 0.42 PTS/GP. He may end up being more of a two way guy for the Blackhawks, but he’s got all the runway in front of him that a young player needs to try and find another offensive gear. 

Quarantine

N/A

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