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

Nazem Kadri / Colorado Avalanche – The injury Kadri sustained during Tuesday’s game against St. Louis is to his finger, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports Wednesday. Unfortunately the team has not released any timing updates outside of noting that Kadri is expected to be okay to play in the playoffs. Kadri has eight points in 15 games since being traded to Colorado near the deadline. He’s seen a bit of a reduction in ice time naturally, going from a weak team to one of the stronger forward groups in the NHL. He’s also had zero points in his last five contests, including a minus-five effort on April 1st against Vancouver of all teams. With 50 points through 77 games this year, he’s left something to be desired for fantasy owners especially with his shot rates dropping from 3.39 SOG/GP in 2024-25 to a 2.77 this year. 

Cutter Gauthier / Anaheim Ducks – Gauthier (upper body) didn’t play against Nashville on Tuesday and is also expected to miss Thursday’s matchup against San Jose, Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune reported. Gauthier is one of the more promising young fantasy assets to hoard at the moment. With 3.7 SOG/GP and 65 points in 73 games during this sophomore season, Flyers fans can’t be too happy about the trade to force his way out. Seeing almost 52 percent of powerplay time is helping a ton too. It’s helped him to 18 powerplay points on the year, and he hits a little bit too. 

Cale Makar / Colorado Avalanche – Makar (upper body) will likely miss a few more games, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post reported Tuesday. Makar’s numbers are down right across the board. He’s slipped in points per game down to his lowest rates since 2020-21 with a 1.03, which is clearly still irreplaceable coming from a defenseman. Devon Toews has been manning the blue line during the man advantage in Makar’s absence. 

Leon Draisaitl / Edmonton Oilers – Draisaitl (lower body) has not started skating but is expected to get on the ice soon, Tony Brar of Oilers TV reported on Monday. Draisaitl is hopeful to be back for game one of the playoffs, and has all but been ruled out for the rest of the regular season. With a 1.49 points per game rate this season, the man has done a lot for fantasy teams year in and year out. He’s a devastating loss during head to head play offs, but he’s rarely missed many games throughout his 12 year career so far. He will continue to produce like a superstar for years to come and you should count yourself lucky if you’ve been able to get your hands on him. The Oilers may have a good record since losing Leon, but his absence is felt deeply on their powerplay. Since he’s been out, the Oilers have scored two goals in 21 chances for a 9.5 percent success rate… they’ve also given up two shorthanded goals. They’re going to have to figure something out in order to hang onto first in the Pacific if the Ducks come back into form. 

Matthew Tkachuk / Florida Panthers – Tkachuk (personal) was not an option for Tuesday’s game in Montreal. With 32 points in 30 games, Tkachuk has been right on pace with his last few years of production since coming back from major injury. His hits have been cut nearly in half on a per game basis, but his shot production barely fell from last season, after falling from the two seasons prior to that. I don’t envision him rushing back, with the way the Panthers have seemingly been mailing in the season for a few months now. Tkachuk is away from the team for the birth of his child. Congratulations. 

Alex Lyon / Buffalo Sabres – Lyon left Wednesday’s morning skate due to a lower-body issue, per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. The 33 years old netminder has had a fantastic season, with a 63.9 QS%, a .907 SV% and 20-10-4 record, he’s been a huge part of the Sabres making the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Despite the great season, Lyon has had a tough last couple weeks between the pipes, having posted ugly losses in his last three games straight. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen may have the edge going into the playoffs for starts at this point, given recent play and the fact that he’s on an expiring contract. 

Quarantine

Joe Veleno / MTL, Miles Wood / CLB

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