Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome back to the Injury Ward. Injury news was quite scarce with the majority of the league on a break, and things are finally getting back to full steam with the recent end of the Olympics. Quite a few players are battling illness as well. 

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. So, on to the bad (and some good) news.

Injuries / Leaves

Sidney Crosby / Pittsburgh Penguins – Crosby (lower body) was placed on injured reserve today, and is said to be missing at least four weeks of hockey. The Pittsburgh roster looks a little less than scary with Sid on the sidelines, but I wouldn't necessarily bet against them given they were almost completely written off at the beginning of the season by most people. Crosby only had two points in his six games before the Olympic break, and over all this is his worst point pace of 86 in 82 GP since, well… ever. Next closest is 87 over 82 GP in 2015-16 but he's consistently been over a 90 point pace for his whole career. Insane. 

Leon Draisaitl / Edmonton Oilers – Draisaitl (undisclosed) is playing for the Oilers tonight in Anaheim after being in visible pain during the Olympics, icing his hand on the bench numerous times. Leon gonna Leon, as in he will have a 797 land on his head and still be in the lineup until a limb literally atrophies and falls off. Whether that’s a good thing for anyone is a tale as old as time in the NHL. Play until you cannot play any more. One thing is for certain, it will probably be painful to go bowling when he’s 40 years old.

Connor McDavid / Edmonton Oilers – McDavid's (hand) participation in Anaheim on Wednesday is still up in the air. It's been said that he will miss a few games, but media close to the team has responded to people on X by saying not to rule him out for this evening’s game. I suspect we will know after the morning skate today, and if not he may be a game time decision. Not much I can say about Connor in fantasy terms that's not already painfully obvious. Challenged only by one or two players for the top billing every season, if he's not in the lineup, you're not getting a replacement of value as a replacement unless you trade him for a massive haul (which is not recommended). 

Brayden Point / Tampa Bay Lightning – Point (upper body) has missed the last 11 games for the Lightning but will be back in the lineup today following an extended rest period. I've been vocal about saying that Point has been dealing with something since the beginning of the season, likely an upper body issue. I say that because his SH% has been an all time low, with a drop in SOG/G as well. He was on fire before he left the lineup most recently, and I believe he was making a push to be included in the Olympics roster but ultimately the injury didn't hold up. I believe he is one of the best buy-lows heading into the fantasy playoff push and beyond.

Mikko Rantanen / Dallas Stars – Rantanen (lower body) missed Finland's bronze medal game at the Milan Olympics, and is now said to be missing a minimum of two weeks for the Stars according to Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine on Tuesday. Rantanen hasn't quite been the Tyrannosaurus with full length arms that he showed himself to be in the playoffs last season thus far into 2025-26, but we know what he is capable of. Until Rantanen met Edmonton last year, he was singlehandedly dunking full teams head first into toilet bowls, including his former teammates in Colorado. Fantasy managers will hope he can turn on the jets when he comes back from injury in time for their playoff schedules.

Robert Thomas / St. Louis Blues – Thomas (leg) participated in Friday’s practice session, but is now taking a leave of absence from the team due to a personal matter. Thomas' struggles this year have been no secret. With the rumors of trades coming out of St. Louis, some of their big players may be on their way out, and that certainly won't help things along unless Thomas is one of the guys to go.

Jack Eichel / Vegas Golden Knights – Eichel (undisclosed) will miss Wednesday’s road game in Los Angeles, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Tuesday. Eichel, after major neck issues and seasons of only 21 and 34 games played in 20-21 and 21-22, has finally been able to put together some solid games played in his past few campaigns. He's a certified All Star player, and when he's in the lineup he is nearly unstoppable for the Golden Knights. This season, he's proved that twice over and is pacing at 1.36 PTS/G. His shot rates are up, along with his PPP and both A and G. He's seeing nearly a minute more of ice time on average over last season, coming in at 21:17 per night. He even plays a decent amount on the penalty kill. 

John Carlson / Washington Capitals – Carlson (lower body) has been ruled out for Washington's game against the Flyers on Wednesday. Carlson has been turning back the clock this season, torching his last three season's totals with 0.84 PTS/G. He's shooting 8.7% so far, but hasn't been shooting more than normal. His pairing with Slovakian olympian Martin Fehervary has been working quite well for the pair, sporting a +17 so far throughout their roughly 510 minutes on ice together so far. Carlson and Chychrun have better fancy stats together in 250 minutes together, but have seen varying results coming in at just a minus-2 in that time.

Josh Morrissey / Winnipeg Jets – Morrissey (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Monday, per the NHL media site. Morrissey missed the rest of Canada's games in Milan, and it looks like we can now expect him to be missing at least a few NHL games as well. Morrissey has been a pretty decent fantasy asset over the last four years, never dipping below 0.75 PTS/G. He's a bit streaky, and doesn't provide a ton of peripherals outside of blocks, but for where the man is drafted each year on average, he's value. He's shooting a little above his normal career percentages so far this season, and Winnipeg's struggles to score with the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers certainly hasn't helped.

Zach Benson / Buffalo Sabres – Benson (upper body) is not expected to return during the Sabres’ three-game road trip, Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News reports Monday. Benson has stayed relatively healthy up until this point in the season, missing only five games so far. With four points in his past six games before injury on February 2nd, Benson has been a bit streaky throughout the year but the hope is that he gets extended exposure to Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, giving him a big boon to continue and kickstart his production. Peyton Krebs has been practicing alongside Thompson and Tuch at even strength today.

Seth Jones / Florida Panthers – Jones (face) has been participating in practice but he's doing so in a non-contact jersey. Uvis Balinskis has been getting the top power play minutes in his stead, and has not been a bad option if you're in need of a defenseman for the short term. Jones hasn't quite lived up to the position he was drafted in, or his contract necessarily, but has been a useful player while in Florida given the state of rosterable defenseman these days.

Quarantine

Mika Zibanejad / NYR – Missed practice Wednesday, Tom Wilson / WSH – Game time decision , John Tavares / TOR, Roope Hintz / DAL

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!