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.

Auston Matthews / Toronto Maple Leafs – Matthews (lower body) hasn’t been ruled out against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday after head coach Craig Berube told reporters, “I’ll probably know tomorrow if they’re available Wednesday,” per Mark Masters of TSN. Matthews has been out since November 11th, and with the wrist issues he’s had over the last couple of years I’m worried about his production getting anywhere near his career high of 1.45 points per game in 2021-22. This year he’s sitting at just 0.82 per game. His shot rates are down over the last two years as well, falling from 4.56 per game in 2023-24 to 3.82 per game this season. Hopefully I’m wrong and he’s right as rain when he comes back this time though.

Matthew Knies / Toronto Maple Leafs – Head coach Craig Berube said Monday that Knies (lower body) is close to returning to game action, David Alter of The Hockey News reports. Both Knies and Matthews were donning grey sweaters at practice on Tuesday which indicates a scratch or injured player. Toronto has always been brutal for reporting injuries correctly, nearly always giving a quicker timeline than things end up lasting in reality. Matthews was said to be out a week and has been missing since November 11th. Knies has been enjoying his true breakout season so far, with a 95-point pace over a full season. His shots per game are up to 2.16 as well as his hits at 2.63 per game. People should be very happy with him at his average draft position.

Zach Werenski / Columbus Blue Jackets – Werenski (upper body) sustained an injury during Monday’s game versus the Capitals and did not return. Werenski managed to play 81 games last season after missing roughly half of his team’s games over the prior five seasons. It turned out to be a career year for him and he’s doing much of the same so far this season, accruing 21 points through 23 games, just slightly off his pace last year. His shots per game are even up a little bit which bodes well for continuing the point pace too.

Kirill Marchenko / Columbus Blue jackets – Marchenko (upper body) did not play against Washington on Monday after a muscle tightened up on him during the morning skate. Even with zero points in his last three games, Kirill is at a point per game through 22 contests to date. It’s no secret that I love this guy’s play, and if he can stay healthy he has a chance to be a 100-point guy eventually in my mind. His fantasy stats have steadily increased across the board every year in the NHL, including peripherals like blocks and hits even if they aren’t exorbitant totals.

K'Andre Miller / Carolina Hurricanes – Miller (undisclosed) didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice after getting banged up in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Buffalo, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes’ official site reports. The Hurricanes take on the Rangers at home Wednesday, so if he is at all able to, I think he will force his way into the lineup. Nothing like sticking it to the scumbags who didn’t believe in you (I don’t think the Rangers are scumbags). Miller has 10 points in 16 games, on pace for his highest totals of his career.

J.T. Miller / New York Rangers – Miller (upper body) will be with the Rangers for their two-game road trip that kicks off against the Hurricanes on Wednesday, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports. Not certain which game Miller makes it back into, but good news nonetheless.

Tristan Jarry / Pittsburgh Penguins – Jarry (lower body) could be in the lineup against the Sabres on Wednesday after head coach Dan Muse told reporters, “I would expect that he would be available for us tomorrow,” Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports. Jarry returns to battle it out with Arturs Silovs for starts once again, the former seeming a bit reinvigorated with the competition who after a yearly stat of 0.893 last year has rebounded nicely at 0.911 so far. Silovs is sporting a 0.908 but looks pretty nice next to eight of the eleven starts being of the quality variety.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins / Edmonton Oilers – Head coach Kris Knoblauch announced Tuesday that Nugent-Hopkins (undisclosed) is expected to return to the lineup Saturday in Seattle, per Tom Gazzola of Edmonton Sports Talk. Not much to say about Edmonton at the moment aside from the fact that as a fan of the team they make me want to stop watching hockey for a few months while they figure it out. Ryan should return to powerplay one and top six minutes.

Thatcher Demko / Vancouver Canucks – Demko (lower body) will join the Canucks on their upcoming four-game road trip, Adam Kierszenblat of The Hockey News reports Monday. Demko returning, but for how long? Thatcher’s injury history scares the bejeezus out of me and I’d be trying to get whatever I could out of him in a trade after a few good starts when they come.

Kevin Lankinen / Vancouver Canucks – Lankinen (personal) won’t travel with the Canucks on the team’s upcoming four-game trip, which begins against Anaheim on Wednesday. Kevin had the reins handed to him last week. He promptly dropped them, slapped the horse's buttocks and somersaulted backwards into the muck (always raining in Vancouver), giving up nine goals in two games before leaving the team. Not to pile on the guy during what is possibly a really difficult time, and we don’t know what’s going on but the absence has been deemed as indefinite by GM Patrik Alvin. It’s a shame he’s had a rough start since being relied upon and delivering very well last season during Demko's absence, appearing in 51 games with a 2.62 GAA and a .902 save percentage in that time.

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!