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.
Connor Brown / EDM – Brown (undisclosed) had been a huge bright spot for the Oilers through the first two rounds. He has averaged 15:20 of ice time through the Oilers first 11 playoff games while posting seven points during those minutes. He is a crucial part of the penalty kill as well, generating chances during the man disadvantage. Brown will be replaced by Viktor Arvidsson, who has seemingly had troubles staying on his feet at any given point in these playoffs. Still, there are worse players to have to bring in than a near three time 60 point scorer.
Mattias Ekholm / EDM – Ekholm (undisclosed) is finally considered day-to-day for Edmonton. Mattias is widely considered to be one of the Oilers best recent acquisitions via trade and a huge reason for their run to game seven of the finals against Florida in the 2023-24 playoffs. The swede has been a full participant in practice this week, leading the stretch to a sea of teammates’ smiles. The Oilers have indicated he will not be ready for games one and two but at this point in the season I would not be surprised if he is in for game two in the result of a game one loss. He is travelling with the team to Dallas. In the event Ekholm returns, Troy Stecher would be the roster casualty.
Jalen Chatfield / CAR – Chatfield (undisclosed) was held out of the lineup for game one against the Florida Panthers. Rod Brind'Amour said that Jalen was feeling better today but would still have to be cleared to play before tomorrow's Game 2. He also had some big praise for the defenseman by saying this, “When you lose key players, it’s hard to win,”
“He’s a top-four d-man that logs a lot of minutes that we don’t have a replacement for. Not having him is going to hurt.” Hurt it did, as the Panthers steamrolled the Hurricanes at home for a five to two victory in game one.
Jordan Martinook / CAR – Martinook (undisclosed) wasn’t on the ice for Monday’s practice session for an undisclosed reason, but made it into the game one lineup on Tuesday and skated near the top of the ice time list for Canes forwards.
Auston Matthews / TOR – Matthews (undisclosed) spoke after the Leafs' season ended about playing with an injury since training camp. Toronto's season ended in the usual way with a loss and with world ending panic level dooming from media all over North America. It would feel weird if the hockey world weren't losing their minds over the "core four" with talks about blowing the whole thing up. I feel bad for the guys who play there, but not that bad. Matthews indicated that the injury had flared up at different times throughout the season but he also stated that he will be ready and fully healthy for training camp.
Chris Tanev / TOR – Tanev (collar bone) was the blocked shots leader for Toronto this season, as well as topping the list in hits throughout the playoffs. The man puts himself through it for the team and it is well known. He unfortunately picked up a collarbone injury in March that held him back throughout the remainder of their games.
Anthony Stolarz / TOR – Stolarz (concussion) who was hit by a Sam Bennett forearm early in their series with Florida, has spoken about the incident and confirmed that he is dealing with a concussion. This comes as a surprise to absolutely no one as he was puking his brains out at his teammates' feet about 10 minutes after the collision, and subsequently left the arena on a stretcher to be checked out at the hospital. Wishing Anthony the best with his recovery this offseason.
Matthew Knies / TOR – Knies (lower body) was to be held out of the lineup for Toronto but managed to play in games six and seven while nursing an injury he picked up on a Niko Mikkola hip check. Knies has indicated that the injury should be healed soon and will pose no issues looking to next season.
Nick Jensen / OTT – Jensen had a procedure in New York on Monday to address a lower-body injury. Jensen, who was acquired as part of the Jakob Chychrun trade put up 21 points in 71 games for the Senators, and logged over 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career. He is hopeful to be ready for training camp but some are skeptical.
Josh Morrissey / WPG – Morrissey (knee) stated Tuesday that he will not require surgery for the injury he sustained in Game 6 against the Stars. He added that the injury would have caused him to miss the rest of the playoffs had the Jets advanced.
Bo Horvat / NYI – Horvat (lower body) has left Team Canada at the world championships due to a collision with the Finnish goaltender Juuse Saros on Tuesday. He is returning to Long Island to be evaluated by Islanders team doctors and determine a path forward. The extent of the injury is not yet known. With a new GM to be named in New York in the coming weeks as well as the hoopla of winning the first overall pick in the draft lottery, this is some less than great news after a run of good luck.
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. Have a great week people!