Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, everyone. Welcome back to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday and Sunday 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. A small note of personal good news first, my wife gave birth to our first son on Wednesday and we could not be happier. Onward we go!

Mark Stone / Vegas Golden Knights – Stone (undisclosed) took a spill on the ice in last night’s game against the Calgary Flames and subsequently left the game. He did not return, including staying hidden when he was announced as the game’s first star. This was all mentioned by Ian Gooding in today’s Ramblings article as well as a bunch more useful information from around the league. Stone is a Dobber Band-Aid Boy, and struggles to stay in the lineup for not-so-small chunks of time. A shame, because he produces like a workhorse when he does play. He was on the fast track to make my prediction of him being the disappointing player of the year in the Dobber pre-season predictions article look pretty dumb (nearly unavoidable in this business from time to time). Hopefully for his owners it’s nothing serious.

Brady Tkachuk / Ottawa Senators – Tkachuk (thumb) is projected to miss the next 6-8 weeks because of a ligament issue in his right thumb, the team announced Thursday. Terrible news for Ottawa and all of his fantasy owners. Brady is a hard-nosed player and what comes along with that is weak bones. I’m just kidding, that’s ridiculous but the old adage of F around and find out definitely applies to the type of style he plays unless you’re made of literal steel unfortunately. Shane Pinto will be a benefactor of Tkachuk’s absence, retaining his power-play role although his torrid start leading the league in goals after Saturday’s game makes a pretty good case regardless.

Brandon Montour / Seattle Kraken – Montour (personal) will be taking a temporary leave of absence to deal with a family matter and will not play Saturday in Toronto. No word yet on when he will be available again.

Mackenzie Blackwood / Colorado Avalanche – Blackwood’s (lower body) conditioning loan at AHL Colorado ended Friday. Trent Miner was still the backup to Scott Wedgewood on Saturday night despite the news, in their 4-1 win against Boston. I expect that Miner gets sent down this week to make room for their number one from last season. If I had to bet, it would be on Blackwood returning to the bulk of starts, but Wedgewood has certainly made a great case for himself to steal a few more than previously thought with his stellar play so far.

John Klingberg / San Jose Sharks – Klingberg (lower body) is expected to accompany the Sharks on their road trip that starts Tuesday versus the Islanders, Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Nikita Kucherov / Tampa Bay Lightning – Kucherov (illness) missed Saturday’s clash against Columbus. The proverbial "straw that stirs the drink" in Tampa Bay, and Nathan MacKinnon’s favorite player to watch was missed dearly by his team on Saturday. This was evidenced by not one single line having a better Corsi for percentage than 46 or a shot share percentage of more than 33 – yikes. It’s only one game though, and hopefully that’s all it will be.

Noah Hanifin / Vegas Golden Knights – Hanifin (undisclosed) missed Saturday’s game against Calgary, and has not yet resumed skating.

Darcy Kuemper / Los Angeles Kings – Kuemper (lower body) skated Saturday and might travel with the Kings for their upcoming five-game road trip, which begins Tuesday in St. Louis, according to Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider reports. The Canadian Olympic hopeful and 6-5 tower Kuemper has started way off his mark from his Vezina trophy season last year through his first three starts this season. It was his best season on record and it will remain to be seen if he can repeat it going forward, especially with what I believe is a vastly weaker defense core thanks to Kenny Holland. However, he will almost certainly improve on his 0-2-1 record and .868 save percentage going forward.

Patrick Kane / Detroit Red Wings – Kane (upper body) was not in the lineup against Edmonton on Sunday and has no date for a return as of yet. Kane is on pace over the first five games of the season for a point per game. Of course, it’s a tiny sample size so it’s unlikely he could push for that rate over a full season at his age and state of repair, but with the Red Wings starting to come of age it’s not impossible. His last season where he generated a point a game or more was his last year in Chicago (2021-22) where he registered 91 points in 78 games. I miss the good old days of him and Johnny Toews running things.

Patrik Laine / Montreal Canadiens – Laine (lower-body) was held out of the lineup at home versus the Rangers on Saturday. Laine has been another slow starter this year with only one point through his first five appearances. We may certainly have seen his best days already in fantasy hockey, although you probably already figured that one out. If you haven’t, then you’re in the right place!

Pierre-Luc Dubois / Washington Capitals – Dubois (lower body) has recently been placed on injured reserve, but he could return sometime in the next few games. As per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, Dubois has been skating in a non-contact jersey in practice but could don a contact jersey this week. Dubois has played in three games for the Capitals this season so far and has gone pointless through the stretch with only five shots on goal. Rough start for PLD adding an injury to the mix, but it does seem like he could return soon at least.

Shakir Mukhamadullin / San Jose Sharks – Mukhamadullin (upper body) has been ruled out from travelling with the team on their upcoming roadie. It’s unfortunate timing after a great start for him in the Sharks opener where he notched two assists, four PIM and a blocked shot. He was drafted 20th overall in 2020 and has been slow rolled a bit by the franchise playing his first 30 games in the NHL last season apart from the one game he got into the year before.

Thomas Harley / Dallas Stars – Harley (illness) was a game-time decision for Saturday’s matchup against St. Louis. Harley ultimately suited up for the Stars, logging his second highest TOI of the young season with 23:54 in their 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It ended up being his most anemic game this season in the stats column totalling only two hits and one block on the evening. It was his first pointless game of the year, which tells you how strong a start he has had. Here’s to hoping he can supplant Miro Heiskanen on the Stars top power-play unit for his sake, while continuing his over one point per game pace from early on.

Shayne Gostisbehere / Carolina Hurricanes – Gostisbehere (lower body) left after playing four minutes in Saturday’s game versus the Kings and did not return. Shayne has been on fire early on and his points are mostly coming at 5-on-5. Ghost Bear has annually posted an average of half his points on the man advantage so it’s quite a change to see him at seven points through five games (essentially four games and four minutes) while having only one power-play point. His pairing with Alexander Nikishin has been fruitful, as they have a heavily favored shot share when paired together. K’Andre Miller will likely slot into his spot on the top powerplay, as he did after his exit and logged over 27 minutes of ice time himself.

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!