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.

Valeri Nichushkin / Colorado Avalanche – Nichushkin (lower body) sustained an injury Tuesday versus the Ducks and will be evaluated further Wednesday, Bailey Curtis of DNVR Sports reports. Nichushkin has never played a full season, and while some of the time missed is not due to injury, it is detrimental all the same to your rosters. Valeri is a Band-Aid boy trainee and we wait for news on the severity of his injury. Nichushkin has so far put up 12 points in 17 games played, adding 41 shots and three power play points.

Thatcher Demko / Vancouver Canucks – Demko (lower body) did not finish Tuesday’s game versus the Jets. Demko left after just one period, first allowing three goals on eight shots. Last week I mentioned that I don’t trust any injury news surrounding him, and I hate to end up right about this kind of stuff but that feeling is going to continue when he returns for a single period, looks bad and then leaves injured again. Head coach Adam Foote said he believes he was ready to play, but what’s the point in not giving him more than a game off? Lankinen will be taking the reins until he returns, given the next in line option is Jiri Patera.

Alex Nedeljkovic / San Jose Sharks – Nedeljkovic (personal) will be away from the team after Tuesday’s game in Minnesota, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports. Nedeljkovic had been great in his last three starts before injury, posting a save percentage of .947 and allowing only five goals while winning two of the three. Unfortunately, he has the net bench pressing champion, Askarov breathing down his neck and has been ceding starts to him slowly since the beginning of the year, so there’s no real chance for volume above half the games, which seems unlikely anyways given the dispersion of starts so far.

Frederik Andersen / Carolina Hurricanes – Andersen (undisclosed) exited Tuesday’s game versus the Capitals in the third period due to an undisclosed injury, Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post reports. After the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters that Andersen was pulled by the concussion spotter, per Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer. Andersen has been the recipient of a smattering of injuries over the last three years causing him to miss significant chunks of each season. Adding a possible head injury to that is not ideal, especially in his NHL twilight years. Yes, I know he’s only 36 but with a recent knee surgery on top of blood clot issues before that, it’s anybody’s guess how long he decides to continue on for should this knock be of any significance. He’s also on a one year deal making things even cloudier. Frederik has five wins in nine games this season, and an .892 to go with it. 

Anthony Stolarz / Toronto Maple Leafs – Stolarz (upper body) was injured in Tuesday’s game versus the Bruins and did not return. Head coach Craig Berube did add after the game that he thinks he will be fine, but that seems unreliable at best. Anthony has had a pretty tough start to the year with only 30% quality starts in 13 games played, but has managed six wins in those games. Lump that in with an 0.884 save percentage and you can almost hear the muffled cries from Scotiabank Arena chanting Joseph Woll‘s name, who is currently sharpening his game in the AHL on a conditioning stint.

Auston Matthews / Toronto Maple Leafs – Matthews (lower body) left and did not return to Tuesday’s game versus the Bruins. He left during the second period after taking a hit from Nikita Zadorov, the most orc-like man in the NHL, and someone who I am certainly glad I don’t have to look over my own shoulder for any given time. The sentiment around the league seems to be that Matthews was injured before the hit as it didn’t look particularly bad. I am inclined to think this as well, since Auston has had a lackluster start points wise (14 in 17 games) and has only two powerplay points to speak of so far.

Thomas Chabot / Ottawa Senators – Chabot (upper body) sustained an injury and did not return to Tuesday’s game versus the Stars. Thomas' recent play has rewarded him with 10 points in his last 13 games played prior to the injury. He went pointless in his first four games, but has since caught up with his past season point per game paces. Something that stands out to me is his heightened shooting percentage (10.5) because it’s four percent higher than his usual. Add that to the fact that he’s only taking just over one shot per game (1.1) and it doesn’t look good for keeping this up, not to mention Jake Sanderson still having PP1 on lock down.

Frank Nazar / Chicago Blackhawks – Nazar (undisclosed) isn’t expected to face the Devils on Wednesday but remains day-to-day, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports. I wrote about Nazar when he first hobbled up to the press box, and mentioned that he must have something very warm stowed in his back pocket this season since it has been spurring him on to 11 points in 10 games. Certainly can’t be coal as he’s in line for some finer gifts if he keeps that pace up.

Victor Hedman / Tampa Bay Lightning – Hedman (undisclosed) missed practice Tuesday with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports. Hedman, despite Tampa Bay's top fantasy assets getting off to a start some would call "cheeks" has only managed to drop 0.04 points per game off of his pace from last season's 0.84 marker. Darren Raddysh took over Hedman's duties on the man advantage for the rest of the game, and should continue to do so. Another note, Charle-Edouard D'Astous (that was a typing test) had two points in that game and has three in his last three and he will be looking at second unit service.

Zach Hyman / Edmonton Oilers – Hyman (wrist) won’t play in Philadelphia on Wednesday but will make his 2025-26 debut either in Columbus on Thursday or Saturday in Raleigh, Jason Gregor reported Tuesday. Hyman is returning at a pretty good time (best time was two months ago), since Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was just placed on IR and is week to week. There was also a bit of weirdness from head coach Kris Knoblauch on Monday, who placed Trent Frederic on to the top powerplay as some sort of reward for Mathieu Olivier pushing his face in like an elevator's up button in a 700 unit apartment building earlier in the game. Needless to say, Hyman will recapture his top spot on that unit, even with Nuge back, and will play with either Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid unless someone else decides to fight a mountain before then.

Zach Benson / Buffalo Sabres – Benson (lower body) will travel with the Sabres during their upcoming three-game road trip, Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report reports. Exciting news for Sabres' fans and folks who have stashed him alike, considering he had a full point per game pace going through eight games before his injury. He upped his shot totals per game to a full two shots as well. It’s a very small sample size for these increases, but should he return to the same deployment of which had also increased signaling he can probably keep it up.

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!