What’s up, hockey fans? Here is the October 25, 2026 edition of the Injury Ward!

Here are the key injury updates heading into the week:

Bowen Byram (D) – CHI – day-to-day – Byram has missed the last few games with an upper-body injury and has not returned to the lineup since leaving the game on October 13 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. Initial concerns were that Byram was suffering concussion-related symptoms after taking a puck to the face during that game, but Chicago head coach Jeff Blashill has stated that Byram has an upper-body injury and was not in concussion protocol (Kalen Lumpkins of the Chicago Tribune).

Byram has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey, but he did not appear in the Blackhawks' lineup on Sunday. No further updates on his condition have been reported at this time.      

Devon Levi (G) – EDM – week-to-week – If there was one thing that could stop this Edmonton Oilers train from steamrolling over the entire league, an undisclosed injury to their red-hot goalie was probably it. Levi was moved to the IR Friday, with not much more information given other than he will miss a few weeks. McDavid might be on pace for 260 points this season, but Levi was the glue holding this club together with some big saves at the right time.

Other than that abysmal start to the year, Levi has been steady and collecting wins while Edmonton collects souls, going 6-1-0 through 7 games. The Oilers will turn to Tristan Jarry as the temporary starter, and the Oilers have called up 32-year old Matt Tomkins from the AHL, who has six prior games of NHL experience under his belt. Keep an eye on this situation if you are looking for a goalie on the wire. You could probably still pick up Jarry from free agency, and if he starts to waver (as he often does), you could probably pick up a few wins with the AHL vet Tomkins sneakily making his way into a starting position.

Jared McCann (LW) – SEA – month-to-month – Not so great news for McCann coming out of Seattle on Saturday. The Seattle Kraken will be without McCann for the foreseeable future after the Kranken PR team announced that he has been moved to the injured reserve and will miss 10 weeks of action with a lower-body injury. This is a bit of a strange one. As usual, actual injury disclosure is hush-hush, but here's what we know. McCann played 16 minutes and change on Thursday and didn't leave that game, missed practice Friday morning to be evaluated for injury, sat out Saturday's matchup, and then the move to the IR Sunday.

Seattle has been getting contributions from everyone this year, and McCann currently sits amongst the team leaders in points (3G, 5A, 11GP). With McCann out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, Kaapo Kakko will take over on the top line. It might be a good time for another look at Kakko, at least while he's hot (2G, 8A) and the Kraken's leader in points. The Kraken continue their pursuit of Edmonton and Vegas in the standings.

Logan Thompson (G) – WSH – week-to-week – Not only did the Washington Capitals lose the game versus the Kings on Tuesday, they also lost their anchor. Washington moved No. 1 goaltender Thompson to the injured reserve on Saturday. During the second period of Tuesday's loss to the Kings, Thompson reacted quickly to a blast from Artemi Panarin, and he immediately went down clutching his left leg.

Updates have been scarce at best. On Saturday, head coach Spencer Carbery said that Thompson was taking some shots at practice that morning (Tom Gulitti via Harvey Valentine), which is a positive step. There is a possibility Thompson could return as soon as Wednesday when the IR designation runs its minimum course. For now, Charlie Lindgren will assume all regular starting duties in DC. Lindgren is a very solid replacement in your lineup if you are looking for some temporary goaltending to replace Thompson.   

Other injury quick hits:

Victor Hedman (D) – SEA – day-to-day (lower body) – See the Ramblings for more analysis.

Mitch Marner (RW) – VGK – day-to-day (birth of child) – Congratulations!

Igor Chernyshov (LW) – SJ – week-to-week (upper body)

For more injury news, see the Frozen Tools Injury News page.

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I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Injury Ward. My name is Kevin Bissonette, and I will be providing weekly NHL injury coverage, all season long. Please give me a follow on X (@DH_KBissonette), and feel free to reach out with any last-minute questions for your squad or updates from your favorite insiders!

Thanks for taking the time to visit Dobber Hockey and good luck this week!