Welcome to another week in the injury ward. The playoffs are here… well sort of. The final playoff spot is still in play with the Blue Jackets' fifth consecutive win on Tuesday. That pushes the race down to simple math. If the Canadiens lose on Wednesday and the Blue Jackets win on Thursday the Blue Jackets are in. Any other combination and the Canadiens will secure the final spot. Let's dig into the injuries that will impact that and other playoff teams.

Logan Couture/SJS (osteitis pubis) – A brief detour before our playoff focused entries. San Jose Shark legend and captain Logan Couture announced his retirement Tuesday. He had missed all of the 24-25 season and all but six games last season due to the ailment. He finishes with 323 goals and 701 regular season points over his 16 seasons along with 48 goals and 101 points in 116 postseason games. Hopefully he can overcome this ailment and enjoy his life after hockey.

Gabriel Landeskog/COL (Knee) – Welcome back to the Avalanche star. After a long and brutal journey Landeskog finally returned with a brief two game AHL stint where he showed he was no worse for wear scoring a goal and an assist on four shots on goal for the Eagles. Landeskog has since returned to the Avs and Hesd coach Jared Bednar has implied that he will be in play for the game one lineup when the Avs start their journey to the Cup versus the Stars.

Jared Spurgeon/MIN (Throat) – Spurgeon returned after a one game absence from a puck to the throat. There isn't much more to report other than that the Wild surely were glad to have him back as he led the team in blocked shots in their thrilling playoff clinching win versus the Ducks.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson/TOR (Upper Body) – Ekman-Larsson stayed on the shelf Tuesday in a meaningless game against my putrid Buffalo Sabres. It was announced that he will be available for the series against the Senators and the Leafs will need him to help contain Stutzle, Batherson, Tkachuk and Giroux among others.

Nikolaj Ehlers/WPG (Foot) – Ehlers, after returning from his foot injury last week, unfortunately re-aggravated it on Saturday against the Blackhawks. He is listed as week-to-week and this is a devastating blow as the Jets will likely be without one of their top scorers against the Blues in round one. For people playing in playoff leagues Gabriel Vilardi is close to returning and will likely slide into the role.

Quinton Byfield/LAK (Upper Body) – Byfield has been out since exiting Monday after a dirty hit(s) from Darnell Nurse that resulted in just a one game suspension. It is unclear as of now if they are just using it as an opportunity to rest Byfield before their series with the Oilers or if Byfield is at risk of missing game one. Stay tuned in to our daily updates for potential news.

Brady Tkachuk/OTT (Upper Body) – Tkachuk continues to sit with an upper body injury.  Bruce Garrioch reported Tuesday that the Senators will make a decision on Thursday but there is a good chance Tkachuk is finally available to play and almost certain to return for Game one of the playoffs. I'm still skeptical the Senators risk anything heading into the Battle for Ontario against the Maple Leafs.

Ilya Samsonov/VGK (Upper Body) – Samsonov returned for the first time since March 23rd Tuesday versus the Flames. Samsonov failed to impress, giving up four goals on 28 shots as the Golden Knights fell 5-4. It will be very interesting to see how they use their goalies in the opening playoff series against the Wild with the rust and ineffectiveness shown by Samsonov. 

Robert Thomas/STL (Lower Body) – Robert Thomas exited Tuesday against Utah with a lower body injury. Jim Montgomery later said the exit was precautionary. Blues fans and playoff format aficionados alike are holding their breath hoping that is the truth as losing Thomas for an extended period of time would be a deathblow to the Blues going into their series with the top-seed Jets. 

Jake Middleton/MIN (Upper Body) – Jake Middleton returned after a four-game absence stemming from a brutal shot from Bo Horvat as the Wild managed to clinch a playoff berth in dramatic fashion. While he is likely not 100 percent, expect Middleton to help lead the Wild defense against the Vegas Golden Knights in round one.

That does it for this week's Injury Ward. Stay tuned for the next edition. You can find me on X

@caochadttv and on Blue Sky @caochadttv.bsky.social