Good morning, good afternoon, 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.

Nikita Kucherov / Tampa Bay Lightning – Kucherov (illness) was back on the ice Tuesday, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning’s official site reports. Kucherov has missed the last two games, and it's really hurt the Lightning. Jake Guentzel, who is a left winger, was elevated to the top line with Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point. The team has been anemic through two contests without him and honestly not all that much better with him. In the two games sans Kuch, Tampa Bay has only managed to put three pucks over the goal line in losses to Detroit and Columbus.

Chris Kreider / Anaheim Ducks – Kreider (illness) was held out of the lineup on Tuesday. The Ducks rolled through the Nashville Predators in a 5-2 game, looking fine without him while doing it. Chris has notched five points in five games to begin the year, including three goals on the power play. The Ducks sorely needed a net-front garbage goal connoisseur and they hit the nail on the head with Kreider in the early offseason cap-dump trade. The powerplay is essentially split with both units receiving similar ice time. It has faltered a bit going without a powerplay goal in the last three games but with such a young roster there will be some growing pains. The goals will certainly come. Kreider's even strength line with Alex Killorn and Leo Carlsson has enjoyed a 75 percent shot share over the last two games together. Kreider is a hold until back from injury unless it’s a pretty shallow league.

Mason Marchment / Seattle Kraken – Marchment (lower body) was not in the lineup against Washington on Tuesday, and is designated as day-to-day. The Kraken were ultimately downed 4-1 despite Matt Murray playing a fairly solid game with a .909 save percentage on 33 shots faced. Mason has four points in six games so far this year, with one coming on the man advantage. He has also chipped in with nine shots, nine hits, and three blocks. Some fairly lukewarm fantasy value with this big fella as his career high is 53 points and that was with a strong offensive team in Dallas in 2023-24. A limited ceiling is to be expected with the Seattle platoon ice time mindset.

Jared McCann / Seattle Kraken – McCann (lower body) is day-to-day and did not play against Washington on Tuesday. McCann has potted three goals and an assist for the Kraken in five games which is pretty much bang on for his career point per game pace of around 0.8 per game. I've always liked McCann in fantasy as a late round pick. He's good for 200 shots a year, and last season managed to get in the way of 50 shots which is a pretty good number of sacrifices (blocks) for a forward. Drafting for shots on goal is one of my biggest tactics since more shots should mean more goals (duh).

Shayne Gostisbehere / Carolina Hurricanes – Gostisbehere (lower body) didn't play against Colorado on Thursday and will now sit out Saturday’s matchup versus Dallas as well. Terrible timing for him and the Hurricanes alike, as he has been an absolutely smashing fantasy draft pick, outperforming his ADP of 123.4 by a country mile. Shayne has seven points in five contests so far which is tied for the league lead amongst defenseman. He is tied with Cale Makar and Matthew Schaefer(!) after Tuesday's slate of games. His owners and teammates will be holding their breath for a quick return.

Anze Kopitar / Los Angeles Kings – Kopitar (foot) was moved to injured reserve Tuesday, per the NHL media site. Anze had four assists in four games before obtaining a bummed foot. He has missed the last two games for the Kings and looks to be missing a few more as he has a week-to-week label.

Brock Boeser / Vancouver Canucks – Boeser (personal) did not play against Pittsburgh on Tuesday in their 5-1 loss. Kiefer Sherwood took over his powerplay spot. The new unit consisting of Elias Petterson, Connor Garland, Jake Debrusk and Quinn Hughes managed just two shots in 2:54 of ice time with the man advantage. No word yet on the length of Brock's absence.

Patrick Kane / Detroit Red Wings – Kane will not play in the club’s upcoming two-game road trip, according to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News on Tuesday. Kaner was turning back the clock with a point per game pace before being sidelined, adding nine shots in those first five games. Odds are he returns soon after Detroit's upcoming road trip.

Matt Duchene / Dallas Stars – Duchene (upper body) was sidelined against Columbus on Tuesday. Matt missed a game on the 16th, returned for one game on the 18th and played his regular time on ice until being ruled out for last night's tilt with Columbus which did not go so well for the Stars, who were felled 5-1. Duchene is labeled as day-to-day but if he’s in and out of the lineup, it could be a lingering thing. Matt has played 80 and 82 games in the past two seasons so he's been quite reliable on a nightly basis. He continues to burn his doubters, crushing his NHL twilight years at nearly 35 years of age. He had 82 points last year!

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen / Buffalo Sabres – Luukkonen, the man whose name tortures dyslexic folks across the hockey landscape, was reassigned to AHL Rochester on a conditioning assignment Tuesday. Ukko is soon returning to a certified fiery hellscape in Buffalo, barring any setbacks. Tons of discourse about the direction of the franchise lately, including some of the largest stars on the team publicly expressing their unhappiness with the state of the franchise. Alex Lyon has filled in great for him while injured, and may at the least steal some starts when Ukko's back with the team full time.

Mark Stone / Vegas Golden Knights – Stone (undisclosed) was put on injured reserve Monday, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Stone hit the deck on a seemingly harmless coming together of players. The man's name is stone but glass may have been more fitting. With that being said, this season Mark has managed to drop caca all over his opponents, alongside his league point leader linemate Jack Eichel and has a freaking 168 point per game pace (13 points in six games). Stone can no longer be stored on the shelf and reanimated magically right before playoffs due to the new LTIR rules, so I would expect him back as soon as he can. Big win for fantasy hockey, this stricter LTIR business.

Brandon Montour / Seattle Kraken – Montour (personal) was added to the non-roster list Monday, per the NHL media site, as he is away from the team dealing with a family matter. All the best to you Brandon.

Filip Chytil / Vancouver Canucks – Chytil (upper body) was placed on injured reserve on Monday after being absolutely blown up by Tom Wilson, who caught him coming up the middle of the ice lacking. It was a hard one to watch, as it almost certainly resulted in a head injury of some sort. I will refrain from judging the hit itself but even if your judgement tells you it's a clean hit, I personally won't be asking Tom to play a contact sport with me any time soon. To make matters worse for Filip, he has a history of them. He was crushed from behind by Jason Dickinson last season causing him to miss the last month of the season. Unfortunately, when you have experienced a traumatic brain injury, your body has a smaller barrier for it to reoccur. It's your brain's way of receding into its shell to protect its function (after all, the brain does classify itself as the most important organ, think about that one). Sadly, this may be a career ender if there's going to be anything but soup and sadness on the menu after 55 years of age (I await this destiny of despair myself). Take care of your melon folks, and please wear a helmet when called for.

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!