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

Kirill Kaprizov / Minnesota Wild – Kaprizov (lower body) did not play in Saturday’s clash with Dallas, making it his second absence this week. Kirill the Thrill has 80 points through 69 contests (nice) and I think he’d probably tell you he’s unhappy with those numbers. We know the man is capable of leading the league at times, and much like Artemi Panarin, he’s been an absolute gem coming over from the KHL smack dab in the middle of his prime. The Wild have gone from a middling trap style team, into a must watch any day of the week with Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and a supporting cast of grizzled vets like Mats Zuccarello. A very bright future for them.

Auston Matthews / Toronto Maple Leafs – Matthews underwent successful MCL knee repair surgery Thursday. His injury is the final nail in the coffin for Toronto being a watchable team this year. Matthews really needed this extended break even before the injury. His stats across the board this season say to me that he’s dealing with a number of issues. His goal was to play at the Olympics and he was able to do that so good for him. There’s been quite a bit of discourse about player safety dropping the ball on this one. I’m of the thought process that player safety is just another intentionally atrophied department of this league that’s keeping them from growing the best live sports product on this planet and reaching more eyes.

Juuse Saros / Nashville Predators – Saros (upper body) was a game-time decision for today's road matchup against Chicago, but it seems he’s now confirmed to be starting at the time of writing, and will be on the ice as the piece is released. Juuse is on his way to probably the worst statistical season of his entire career, and he has the first and third quarters of the year to thank for that. His play has been bipolar for fantasy teams this season, and I have a feeling that he’s going to be getting pushed out of quite a few long-time keeper lists this offseason. I have about 10 decisions I don’t want to have to make myself.

Anthony Stolarz / Toronto Maple Leafs – Stolarz (throat) received his release from the hospital, and he was expected to meet the team at the plane to travel back to Toronto, according to Zoe Pierce of NHL.com on Saturday. Stolarz has only participated in 20 games for the Leafs this season, and it’s been quite a mess for him when he’s in the goal having only a 36.4 QS%. Not much has gone right for the Leafs this season and goaltending is certainly one of those slow-moving parts.

Jared McCann / Seattle Kraken – McCann (lower body) did not play against Columbus on Saturday. McCann has been performing well, falling short of only his 2022-23 season for point pace. His shot rates have fallen 0.2 SOG/GP, but he’s shooting at 19%, and he’s seen about a 45 second per game reduction in ice time which can be attributed to him barely seeing any penalty kill time. His powerplay time has actually jumped a bit this season, but not enough to cover the extra time lost. McCann is probably owned in a good number of leagues, but he was a great waiver guy for a handful of seasons up until recently.

Jake Sanderson / Ottawa Senators – Per Claire Hanna of TSN, Sanderson (upper body) has returned to the ice and could be back in action in 7-10 days, according to head coach Travis Green. Sanderson has been an excellent 2-3 defenseman on a potential winning fantasy roster this season, and he had a particularly great third quarter of the season, almost reaching a point per game with 19 points in 21 games. Ottawa tends to fill the net in lots of their wins, when they do come, and you’ll rarely not see Jake’s name on the scoresheet a few times when they do. 

Yaroslav Askarov / San Jose Sharks – Askarov (lower body) has been out of the lineup since March 10, and the day-to-day projection from then is now looking a bit silly. He’s still listed as day-to-day now, and Alex Nedeljkovic will continue to get the net in his absence. Askarov only has an 0.887 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 which really helps to clear the zone quickly 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 Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Michael 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.

Quarantine

Victor Hedman / Tampa Bay Lightning

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