Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everyone. Welcome back to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every week (usually on Wednesdays), 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.

Aleksander Barkov / Florida Panthers – Barkov (knee) suffered a brutal season ending injury in practice when his leg unfortunately became the landing strip for a teammate during a practice drill. Barkov had successful surgery last week and has already been seen out and about at the Miami Heat of the NBA’s training camp. Safe to say he hit zero fade away jumpers and finished the day with zero rebounds, assists, or field goals. In his absence, look to Anton Lundell and Sam Bennet to pick up the heavy minutes he drops although the Panthers have been splitting the power play this preseason. Keep up to date with any teams line usage with Dobber’s Frozen Tools page under “last game lines“. 

Kirill Kaprizov / Minnesota Wild – Kaprizov was held out of the line up and practice for an eye infection but has since returned. I can also confirm he was not held out due to a light wallet. Kaprizov signed a mega contract in Minnesota to the tune of $136 million smackeroos over 8 years and I can only assume Billy Guerin will be sleeping for a week straight now after that negotiation (being held at gunpoint).

Victor Hedman / Tampa Bay Lightning – Hedman (undisclosed) has not been practicing with the team and not much has been said about his injury. He was however present at the practice facility to watch on Tuesday. On a sadder note, the Hedman’s family dog Harry crossed over on Wednesday. Enjoy the time you have.

Andrei Vasilevskiy / Tampa Bay Lightning – Vasy (undisclosed) practiced with the team on Tuesday and looks to be close to a full return.

Pavel Dorofeyev / Vegas Golden Knights – Dorofeyev (lower body) was still unavailable to play in the Golden Knight’s preseason clash against the Avalanche Wednesday night. It’s worth noting that on Monday head coach Bruce Cassidy stated that Pavel, and perpetual banger league hits streamer Jeremy Lauzon, were both questionable for their preseason matchup on Friday as well. Cassidy also mentioned that the team’s lines were pretty well set for the season but may receive a shake up if these two are out. That tells me not to panic from any combinations we see on the ice Friday night.

Ivan Demidov / Montreal Canadiens – Demidov (wrist) exited Tuesday’s preseason game versus the Senators after taking an absolutely necessary hard slash to the hand/wrist area, from future Player Safety Hall of Famer Nick Cousins. The expectation is that the injury is not severe, but Les Habitants will be careful with their young phenom by most likely keeping him out of the lineup on Saturday.

Jonathan Toews / Winnipeg Jets – Toews (undisclosed) “tweaked something” in Tuesday’s preseason game versus the Wild and is now day to day. He was slated to take part in Friday’s preseason ending game against Calgary but will probably get the extra rest. Toews is now scheduled to skate Thursday morning with the team.

Vince Dunn / Seattle Kraken – Dunn (undisclosed) didn’t practice Tuesday and is listed as day to day. He had a bit of a dust up with Martin Pospisil in their clash Monday and this one was a tad personal since Pospisil popped him into the sill of the boards face first from behind. Dunn has some choice words for Martin after their dust up, promising to gently help him into the afterlife if he does anything again.

Thatcher Demko / Vancouver Canucks – Demko (personal) didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice. I know your heart dropped seeing Demko’s name on this list, like any person with faux fantasy PTSD would, but rest assured he will be back for the start of the season. As for the slightly bad news for him (not really) is that Kevin Lankinen entered a solid .967 save percentage outing giving up one goal on Wednesday night against a nearly complete Flames roster blowing them out of the water 8-1.

J.T. Miller / New York Rangers – Miller (lower body), the 29th captain of the Rangers was deemed day to day on Tuesday. This comes after an awkward moment in practice when he lunged for a puck and stayed down on all fours before retreating gingerly to the dressing room. Miller looks to bounce back strong on this Ranger’s team after a tumultuous season before taking an extended leave and ultimately exfiltrating himself from Vancouver.

Jake Walman / Edmonton Oilers – Walman (undisclosed) was one of the most astute deadline deals last season when he came over for a first round pick seemingly out of nowhere since he had not been in trade rumors leading up to the day. Head coach Kris Knoblauch stated Tuesday that Walman is unlikely to play during the remainder of the preseason, but the defenseman is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season. Walman has been in rumors this offseason, but these ones are about a sweet little payday for him in the near future.

Noah Dobson / Montreal Canadiens – Dobson (groin) was not in the lineup against the Senators on Tuesday, and some are questioning his availability for the start of the season considering the nature of the injury. Dobson gets a downgrade for me in points at the least, considering he comes to Montreal where Lane Hutson will be stapled to the top power-play unit for the next 15ish years in most simulations.

Mats Zuccarello / Minnesota Wild – Zuccarello (lower body) is slated to miss 7-8 weeks, at minimum, due to his lower-body injury, the Wild announced Tuesday. Since being taken out, the Wild have had Vladimir Tarasenko and Liam Ohgren feel the warmth of Mats’ posterior on the top power play.

Logan Cooley / Utah Mammoth – Cooley (undisclosed) was practicing alone Tuesday and did not play that evening. Head coach Andre Tourigny had this to say when asked about Cooley, "He had a blue jersey. That means I cannot touch him. That's what I know." Logan looked good skating by himself and if I were a gambling boy I would have him back soon after the regular season commences.

Alex Ovechkin / Washington Capitals – Ovi got rid of his non-contact jersey on Monday and has been a full participant for a few days now. The Capitals plan barring a setback is to slot him into tonight’s preseason roster against Boston at home. I’m very interested to see what kind of season this minotaur has after what we can only assume was a tank emptying season to break the goal scoring record last year.

Brandon Montour / Seattle Kraken – Montour (undisclosed) is on track for opening night according to the team. He will be sorely needed if Vince Dunn is not ready for opening night either. Dunn and Montour will most likely be running their own power-play units with equal time since Seattle really likes to spread out their minutes amongst their four “third” lines.

Artemi Panarin / New York Rangers – Panarin (lower body) was held out of the lineup last week and kept from practice as well. He returned to practice this week and is now upgraded to full contact. Artemi has stated that he wants to get into a preseason game before everything gets underway, but he is running out of time for that to come to fruition. Panarin saw his point totals fall last season to 1.10 per game for the first time since his last season in Columbus. I’m gonna need to see him stick handling with his dog on Instagram before I predict a season similar to his 120 points in 2023-24. 

Jaccob Slavin / Carolina Hurricanes – Slavin (undisclosed) was on the ice in a non-contact sweater Tuesday and is getting nearer to a return from a minor issue.

Jared McCann / Seattle Kraken – McCann (lower body) skated away from the main group Sunday and should be ready for the start of the regular season; injury season for Seattle right now it seems. McCann is one of those guys held down by his team spreading out minutes. I would love to see this man produce on a contender with elite linemates.

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. Injury updates came from the NHL Player News tool available on the Frozen Tools page. Have a great week people!