Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome back to the Injury Ward. 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

Sam Bennett / Florida Panthers – Bennett (undisclosed) isn’t expected to be available for Sunday’s game against Seattle, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. Bennett is the latest of a small flock of Florida stars being put on the shelf for a bit. He’s having a career year too unfortunately for his fantasy owners. At a 0.77 PTS/GP, he’s managing a full tenth higher productivity than his previous best from last season. He may have a few long-term injuries on the top lines to thank for that, though.

Sam Reinhart / Florida Panthers – Reinhart (undisclosed) will not travel with the team for their upcoming four-game road trip, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports. Reinhart sat on my IR+ the other day for his two-point performance, and now I don’t have to take him off for the inevitable trap game that would have followed! Reinhart is still rated in the top 15 for my bangers and points league, making him a very valuable player that not many people might think of when they’re drafting in the first two rounds of their leagues. He was even higher last season.

Auston Matthews / Toronto Maple Leafs – Matthews (knee/quad) sustained a Grade 3 MCL tear and a quadriceps contusion Thursday versus the Ducks. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks, but he has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. It’s no secret that this season has not gone even close to according to plan for the Leafs. It’s also no secret that Matthews was in the middle of serving up his second worst statistical season of his career, coming in just higher than his rookie season. His second worst season is still good for a 72-point pace and 3.77 SOG/GP, mind you.

Dylan Larkin / Detroit Red Wings – Larkin (leg) was ruled out for two weeks, where he will then be reassessed, per Jonathan Mills. Larkin has been playing through a near carbon copy of last season, currently sitting at 0.87 PTS/G, but his PPP/GP has been slowly declining a little bit over the last two seasons. If Detroit can figure out how to produce a bit more with the man advantage, Larkin will be right back up in point per game territory along with Lucas Raymond.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins / Edmonton Oilers – Nugent-Hopkins (personal) did not play in Friday’s game versus the Blues, and was not at today’s morning skate either, officially being tabbed as a game-time decision due to the birth of his child. Congratulations Nugent-Hopkins family! The Nuge is enjoying his best season points wise since the 2022-23 season, currently pacing for 72 points over a full 82-game season. He’s already hit 26 PPP this year, and that’s with a slightly underperforming unit so far. In 2022-23, he managed to post a career best ridiculous 104 points in 82 games.

Uvis Balinskis / Florida Panthers – Balinskis (undisclosed) might return to the lineup during Florida’s upcoming four-game road trip, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports Saturday. Balinskis' relevancy in fantasy starts and stops with his powerplay usage. He was seeing most of the Unit 1 time with the Panthers when Seth Jones was joined by Aaron Ekblad on the injured list. Ekblad has been reinstated on the top unit since, and I don’t think Balinskis takes it back when healthy.

Yaroslav Askarov / San Jose Sharks – Askarov (lower body) was not available in Saturday’s road game against Montreal and is also ruled out for today’s road matchup against Ottawa, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported. Askarov only has a .887 SV% in 40 GP so far this year, but he does have 17 QS to show for his efforts. He’s a great puck-moving goalie, and his lackluster numbers are more a product of bad defensive play with such a thin Sharks blueline on a good day. San Jose has some pretty exciting years ahead of them with the likes of Celebrini, Smith and Misa, but they’re going to have to figure something or a few somethings on the back end still to really turn into a contender.

John Carlson / Anaheim Ducks – Carlson (lower body) is set to make his Ducks debut tonight (Sunday) in Montreal, according to the team. Carlson was a surprise acquisition by the Ducks from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline. He has not played since February 5. Expect him to log plenty of minutes right off the bat, especially with fellow right-shot defenseman Radko Gudas suspended for four more games.

Quarantine

N/A

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!