Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome back to the Injury Ward, injury news has been quite scarce with the majority of the league on a break, but things should be getting back to full steam by the end of the Olympics. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday and Sunday I will be taking 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. At the end of the article is the Quarantine section, where any players out due to illness will be listed. As always, I’d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.

Injuries / Leaves

Sidney Crosby / Pittsburgh Penguins (Canada) – Crosby (lower body) had to exit Team Canada's quarterfinal game against Czechia on Wednesday and did not return. He left the ice after being smushed against the ice by Radko Gudas in a compromising position and had his right leg bent awkwardly underneath his body. He looked to be in some pain, skating and walking gingerly to the dressing room after taking a minute or two on the bench to come around to the fact that he was too injured to return. Canada managed to gut out a late game tying goal, with Nick Suzuki playing hero by putting away a very nice tip through Lukas Dostal's wickets off of a Devon Toews point shot. Mitch Marner was the eventual prince who was promised, splitting the Czech defenseman and sending a backhand over Dostal's shoulder pretty early on in the three-on-three overtime.

Leon Draisaitl / Edmonton Oilers (Germany) – Draisaitl (undisclosed) seems to be playing through a hand injury. It may have happened against the Minnesota Wild before the Olympic break, but he's been shown numerous times putting bags of ice on it in between shifts while playing for Team Germany. Germany has been eliminated in the qualifiers, so I wonder if we see him get shut down for a bit by the Oilers before the postseason so he can get closer to 100 percent. 

Kirill Marchenko / Columbus Blue Jackets – Marchenko (lower body) didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice session due to an injury, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. Marchenko had missed the last two of Columbus' games before the Olympic break and it looks like he's still worse for wear. Kirill had managed five points in his last four games played, and even though he's just slightly fallen behind last season's points per game pace (currently 0.92), he's actually shooting, hitting, and blocking more often, buoying his value in some fantasy leagues.

Dylan Holloway / St. Louis Blues – Holloway (ankle) will likely return to the lineup for St. Louis’ clash against Seattle on Feb. 26, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports Tuesday. Holloway has been dealing with a high ankle sprain for some time now and we know from past players that that's pretty much one of the worst things to have going on. It heals enough for you to play uncomfortably in a few months, but it takes nearly a year to heal on its own even without playing a full contact professional sport. Most guys go the route of playing with it, whether that’s the teams pushing them to, or their own prerogatives, but they usually don't look like the same guy for a full season, and that's exactly what we’ve been seeing all year from Holloway.

Kevin Fiala / Los Angeles Kings (Switzerland) – Fiala (lower leg fracture) had an awkward tangle with Tom Wilson of Team Canada on Friday. Fiala has 18 goals and 22 assists in 56 games for the Kings so far this year. His scoring numbers and rate stats are down nearly across the board this season, pacing for his lowest point totals since 2018-19. Fiala had surgery to repair his leg, and is apparently still possibly able to help the Kings should they make it to the play offs come April.

Josh Morrissey / Winnipeg Jets (Canada) – Morrissey (undisclosed) left Team Canada's game on Thursday against Czechia and did not return. The injury has subsequently caused him to miss the team’s games against Switzerland, France, as well as their quarterfinal rematch against Czechia. Canada looked a bit leaky on the back end, giving up many grade-A chances against Czechia Wednesday and they will really be hoping that Morrissey can be healthy enough to play in the semi-final, whomever they may be facing.

Quarantine

Sean Monahan  / CBJ, Jesper Wallstedt / MIN (SWE), Anton Lundell / FLA (FIN)

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!