With 83 games down and 1,261 games to go, we are off to an eventful, high-scoring start to the campaign. Evan Bouchard (EDM – D) sits atop the scoring mountain, huge names in the Eastern Conference have gone down early to injury, and Alexander Ovechkin has officially announced this will be his final season in the NHL. It truly is hard to believe it's only October 11th with the plethora of entertaining and relevant news coming out daily.

I know I said we were excited for the prospect of more injuries to write about with the extended season, but after this weekend's season-ending injury to one of the league's best goaltenders (see below), let's all keep our fingers crossed for more day-to-day style injuries, not the career-altering type. 

Here are the key injury updates heading into the week:

Igor Shesterkin (G) – NYR – OUT FOR THE SEASON – Whoever is writing the script in New York this year for the Rangers needs to relax. This isn't wrestling, this is hockey. We crave structure and consistency, not chaos. Last week, I was writing about Shesterkin scoring the first ever goalie goal in Rangers' history. This week, after updates provided by NHL.com Saturday morning, I have been tasked with the unfortunate job of informing you that Igor Shesterkin is now out for the season. After sustaining an absolutely brutal right leg injury, Shesterkin needed help off the ice during the second period of Friday's game against the Washington Capitals. I was watching this game, and let me tell you, this was hard to watch in real time. It was even worse during the 25+ replays that followed. The injury is still undisclosed, but it looked like a right knee injury to me. Shesterkin pushed off his left leg to cover the right side of the net and jammed his right skate against the post. This resulted in his leg buckling and bending awkwardly at the knee with considerable force. The league's highest paid goalie kicked off the year with a 3-1-0 record, posting an impressive stat line of 1.79GAA & .927SV% before exiting the game versus the Capitals. For now, Dylan Garand will get the nod in The Big Apple with Joonas Korpisalo already on the IR and at least 4 weeks away from returning. Garand has been a solid prospect and has been fantastic in all of his NHL showings to date. Can he bolster his impressive resume enough to hold off Korpisalo when the veteran returns?

*Update* Aleksander Barkov (C) – FLA – 6-8 weeks – Barkov and fantasy owners alike can breathe a collective sigh of relief as a timeline for his return was provided on Thursday. According to Barkov, he'll be back "as soon as possible". And according to the report by George Richards, Barkov will miss approximately 6-8 weeks while he recovers from his left leg injury. After throwing his gloves down in obvious frustration, there was considerable concern for the future of Barkov's campaign, but hearing that he hopped on the bike immediately after leaving the ice and is currently in a knee brace, not crutches, is tremendously good news.

John Tavares (C) – TOR – personal time off – No need to panic here. Tavares missed practice Friday and the game versus the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday to attend the birth of his fourth child. He should be back taking faceoffs and adding to his 3PTS (1G, 2A) for Toronto’s next game on Tuesday.

Josh Morrissey (D) – WPG – day-to-day – Morrissey sustained an injury to his right hand on Wednesday versus the Avalanche after crashing into the boards on a missed check. He left the ice after the incident, returned briefly for a quick stint the next period, and then left the game for good. There are still no additional updates on his status, but Winnipeg is hopeful the steady defenseman can return to the blue line for their next game on Tuesday. On the year, Morrissey has 3A in 4GP.

Cutter Gauthier (LW) – ANA – day-to-day – Another player off to a hot start (2G, 2A, 4GP) has gone down with the injury bug. Gauthier was making a significant impact and earning every penny of his new contract (and then some) before exiting the game Saturday night versus the Calgary Flames after only five shifts. From what I saw, there didn’t seem to be any direct play related to what they are calling an "upper body injury", and any reports right now are lacking additional information. Gauthier does have a history of back injuries, and I do recall him taking a nasty cross-check to the back in the preseason, but he has looked just fine. The Anaheim Ducks are definitely hoping this is just a muscle strain or something less significant, and not a lingering back issue.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Injury Ward. My name is Kevin Bissonette, and I will be providing weekly NHL injury coverage, all season long. Please give me a follow on X (@DH_KBissonette), and feel free to reach out with any last-minute questions for your squad or updates from your favorite insiders!

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends!

Thanks for taking the time to visit DobberHockey and good luck this week, fantasy pros!