Welcome to another week in the injury ward. First and foremost, I want to congratulate Alex Ovechkin on his amazing achievement Sunday as he had the entire hockey world on the edge of their seats.  The fantasy and real-life season is wrapping up so let us jump right into this week's edition and see what injuries could have a serious impact on those final few games for those lucky enough to make it this far.

Adrian Kempe /LAK (Dad Power) – After being questionable for Monday's game vs the Kraken, Kempe left just 13 minutes in for a personal reason that Jim Hiller deemed a good reason, likely the birth of his first child with Sian Nickson. Unfortunately for fantasy owners that are still going at this point they may be happy for him but are devastated to lose a 64-point stud who had been red hot of late, logging points over each of the last four games. I would suspect he is highly questionable to return Thursday versus the Ducks but with the #2-#8 seed in play I think we can expect him back for Saturday versus the Avalanche to get back in the groove in time for a pivotal matchup at Edmonton on Monday. Jeff Malott was inserted into the top line in his absence and makes for an intriguing one-game solution.

Tyler Toffoli/SJS (Lower Body) – Toffoli missed Monday's game against the Flames and has been deemed day-to-day. Toffoli was in the midst of another solid campaign while bringing veteran leadership to a very young Sharks team. If he is unable to return tomorrow at the Wild, and with three games left for the Sharks this week, I would monitor Nikolai Kovalenko who was inserted alongside Mack Celebrini and Will Smith as well as on the PP1. Kovalenko notched an assist Monday on one shot.

Jacob Trouba/ANA (Lower Body) – Trouba missed his second consecutive game Monday with a lower body injury. Trouba doesn't sound very likely to return on Wednesday on the front-half of a home/road back-to-back versus the Flames. The road game is only in LA and they return home on Sunday so there is a chance he returns @ LA. In the meantime, Pavel Mintyukov will continue to be a viable streamer in his absence.

Nikolaj Ehlers/WPG (Foot) – Despite being on the ice for morning skate Monday Ehlers missed a second consecutive game with his foot injury. Foot injuries are very tricky but it is very positive that he made it to the skate. This could very likely be the Jets just giving him and extra couple days to be ready for a massive game at the Stars on Thursday as the Jets look to try to push further ahead in the battle for the #1 seed in the West. Unfortunately for owners, it very likely could be up until game time before we know,

John Gibson/ANA (Lower Body) – Gibson missed a second-straight start with his newest injury. The fact that I said newest injury really tells the tale of the story of John Gibson. Immensely talented when he is on the ice and alongside Dostal is a big part of the Ducks being so close to their first winning season since the 2017-2018 season. The problem is he's almost never on the ice suiting up for just 28 games this year.

Aliaksei Protas/WSH (Lower Body) -The breakout forward for the Capitals did not play Sunday after sustaining a lower body injury in Friday's game versus the Blackhawks. The team is deeming him week-to-week which likely spells the end of his phenomenal campaign scoring 66 points a huge jump from the 29 he scored a season ago. Connor McMichael moved into his spot and if a team dropped him during his current slump he is worth adding in case this shakeup can restart him.

Brady Tkachuk/OTT (Upper Body) – Tkachuk did not suit up for a fourth consecutive game on Sunday. A crushing blow to fantasy owners who have been led to the promise land by Tkachuk. Travis Green's demeanor in ruling Tkachuk out for Sunday's game has me really pessimistic on Tkachuk returning in the regular season with the Senators locked into at least a wild card slot.

Ilya Samsonov/VGK (Upper Body) – After being a late scratch after being injured in warmups on the 29th  Samsonov missed a fifth consecutive game Tuesday due to an Upper-Body injury. There continues to be no updates on his readiness to return and like Tkachuk could very well be held out until the playoffs.

Jordan Staal/CAR (Upper Body) –  Staal did not travel on the current Hurricanes road trip and missed a fifth consecutive game at the Sabres with a sixth absence coming tomorrow. His next chance to suit up will be Saturday. In his absence Jackson Blake has been scorching hot and is a must hold.

Eeli Tolvanen/SEA (Undisclosed) – Tolvanen returned over the weekend after missing his first game of the season last week. He is second on the team in scoring but had a recent cold stretch that has extended into his first two games back. 

Jake Middleton/MIN (Upper Body) – Middleton did not skate Tuesday and has been ruled out for Wednesday's game versus the Sharks. Injured Friday after Bo Horvat used him as a battering ram on the boards the team has him listed as day-to-day despite the particularly nasty shot and he may try to rush back with the team clawing from the outside on a playoff spot.

That does it for this week's Injury Ward. Stay tuned for the next edition where we start to look ahead to injuries that will impact playoff formats. You can find me on X @caochadttv and on Blue Sky @caochadttv.bsky.social