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.

Pierre-Luc Dubois / Washington Capitals – In some breaking news, the Capitals announced on Sunday morning that Dubois is expected to miss the next 3-4 months because he will undergo surgery on abdominal and adductor muscle injuries. With that timeline, Dubois should return sometime in February or March. Move Dubois to your IR if you have space, but feel free to drop him entirely in shallow non-keeper leagues or if you simply don't have the IR space to store him for that long.  

Rasmus Dahlin / Buffalo Sabres – Dahlin (personal) has been placed on the non-roster, injured reserve list Friday, per the NHL media site. Dahlin's wife Carolina has recently received a heart transplant and has recovery ahead of her, so no telling when Rasmus will return. All the best wishes to the pair in this difficult time. Only open roads ahead.

Joseph Woll / Toronto Maple Leafs – Woll (personal) will be sent to AHL Toronto for a conditioning stint, Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun reported Friday. Good progress for Woll who has been with the team for a few weeks now working out, and this is the next natural step in the process of getting up to speed. Joseph started the Toronto Marlies game on Saturday, playing just over 36 minutes, taking the loss. He allowed three goals on 24 shots, and Elliotte Friedman said on HNIC on Saturday that fans should not expect an immediate return to the Maple Leafs lineup for Woll.

Vincent Trocheck / New York Rangers – Trocheck (upper body) has been practicing in a non-contact jersey as of Thursday, Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic has reported. Trocheck was lined up between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere on Thursday's skate. The Rangers could seriously use the boost of having him back soon since the team has been shut out in two of their last three games and five in total (all home games). Meanwhile, the power play has scored only three times in 24 opportunities thus far. Yikes.

Justin Brazeau / Pittsburgh Penguins – Brazeau (upper body) will miss at least the next four weeks, the team announced Wednesday. Awful news for the young man, who has started the season with a spark, amassing 12 points in 12 games playing on a line with like-bodied behemoths, Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Mantha.

William Karlsson / Vegas Golden Knights – Karlsson (undisclosed) didn’t return to Saturday’s game versus the Ducks after leaving due to injury.

Zayne Parekh / Calgary Flames – Parekh (upper body) is week-to-week and has been placed on injured reserve, per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Parekh had just passed the nine-game limit for burning a year on his entry level contract. Zayne had been playing third-pairing minutes at even strength, although he was also handling the first powerplay as the team attempted to slowly round out his mostly offensive game at the pro level. He has one assist total, coming on the power play in his 11 games played amongst a few scratches.

Joey Daccord / Seattle Kraken – According to Seattle PR on Saturday, Daccord (upper body) didn’t accompany the Kraken on the team’s two-game road trip. Daccord this season has six wins in 11 starts, and six were considered quality starts. I wouldn’t be trusting him as a number one on my rosters this year, but the waiver wire will be thin being over a month in. However, there is a buzz of a sort of changing of the guard in a few cities so far with the Ducks' coming of age, the Sharks looking quite good, and the Canadiens also doing pretty well for themselves, so there may still be some opportunities to be had if you’re looking in the right places where others aren’t.

Thatcher Demko / Vancouver Canucks – Demko (undisclosed) is said to be a possibility to return for today’s matchup against Colorado, per GM Patrik Allvin on the HNIC broadcast last night. I’m always quite concerned with Thatcher injuries considering his history includes an apparent unfixable, but manageable knee issue which saw him miss a large chunk of 2023-24 and 2024-25 amongst other injuries such as back problem. Demko did look great before the injury though, managing to put up quality starts in seven of his nine starts so far, with a .911 save percentage overall and on some nights, looking like one of the only guys trying to win at all costs.

Charlie McAvoy / Boston Bruins – McAvoy (personal) did not play against Toronto on Saturday, reported by Jim McBride of the Boston Globe before the clash. A family matter took Charlie away from suiting up on Saturday. McAvoy has been enjoying a stint on the Dobber hot streak list featured within the almighty and extremely useful Frozen Tools, after posting six assists in his last five games. This recent streak has brought him to 12 points in 16 games so far, adding 21 shots, 24 hits and 26 blocks in the young season. I would expect Charlie back some time in this next week.

Anthony Cirelli – Tampa Bay Lightning – Cirelli (upper body) did not play against Washington on Saturday. Cirelli has seen some success this year even with the lines in Tampa Bay being constantly in flux. The success has filled his stocking with 11 points in 14 games, two of them being power play goals from the second unit.

Dougie Hamilton / New Jersey Devils – Hamilton (lower body) will be out of action for at least one week, Amanda Stein of the Devils’ official site reported on Saturday. Hamilton had been receiving the majority of top power-play minutes, though he was not necessarily overachieving with it, having four points with the man advantage. Hamilton posted seven points in 14 games before being injured, and Luke Hughes has now taken over blue line duties on the top unit in the meantime, giving him some opportunity here to show what he can do. Hughes has no power-play points in the three games since taking over.

Frank Nazar / Chicago Blackhawks – As of the time of writing, Nazar (undisclosed) should be considered questionable for Sunday's game versus the Red Wings after suffering an injury Friday against the Flames. Frank started the year on a tear, posting 11 points in 10 games before being held pointless in the next five which includes his early exit from injury. The injury is considered day-to-day.

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!