Fantasy Hockey Injury Report 12/29/21
Good Morning! I put off this fantasy hockey injury report for some time over the last few days as we waited to see how teams would handle their COVID situations. There are a ton of players listed on today’s report, 99% of them being COVID related. I have theory crafted the lines and used depth charts to determine who may replace those listed and their fantasy possible fantasy impact. Going forward I will go with the normal way of doing things, such as listing who will be in the report below.
Anaheim Ducks: Maxime Comtois (L)/Sam Steel (C/L)/Trevor Zegras (C) - The squad has brought up Buddy Robinson and Vinnie Lettieri into the lineup for the two forwards who are currently in COVID protocol. Derek Grant was pushed into L1 with Getzlaf/Terry and I wonder if Sam Carrick will center Milano/Rakell on L2. I imagine the best course of action will be going with an 11/7 look. Greg Pateryn and Jacob Larsson have NHL games under their belt on the backend and can be the extra defender. Lettieri has seen the most success out of those listed being moved around the lineup, sitting on four points in 8 games.
Arizona Coyotes: Travis Boyd (C/R)/Christian Fischer (R/L)/Liam O’Brien (C/L)/Alex Galchenyuk (C/L/R)/Jay Beagle (C)/Mattias Maccelli (L)/Ilya Lyubushkin (D) - The Coyotes are trying to work through the COVID situation as best they can, and almost won a literal shootout against the Sharks last night. The game was tied 7-7 and went to the extra frame as San Jose won. Maccelli and Boyd were expected to play but both ended up as new additions to the COVID list on Tuesday. The squad placed Blake Speers, Michael Carcone and Jan Jenik in their bottom six to make up for the lost forwards. As of the moment, none of them have points at the NHL level this season and Jenik is the best of the trio in my opinion. Kyle Capobianco was inserted into the bottom pair of the defense alongside Cam Dineen for Lyubushkin. Capobianco has five points in 14 games this season.
Boston Bruins: Charlie Coyle (C/L)/Brandon Carlo (D) - As the COVID list continues to grow, Boston was able to return the majority of their players to the lineup this week. Coyle and Carlo are straggling behind and still on the list. Erik Haula has been inserted into the top six between Hall/Smith on L2. Haula has been utilized in a defensive role this season, sitting on five points in 25 games. John Moore is going to play on the bottom pair alongside Derek Forbort at the moment. The veteran has been a healthy scratch the majority of the season with only four two games played.
Buffalo Sabres: Zemgus Girgensons (C/L)/Dylan Cozens (C/L)/Mark Jankowski (C/L)/Jeff Skinner (L/R)/Vinnie Hinostroza (R/L)/Colin Miller (D) - These five forwards are currently in COVID protocol for the Sabres and only Zemgus is symptomatic. They recalled three players from the minors in Peyton Krebs, JJ Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen. They were disbursed through the lineup, Peterka on L1 with Thompson/Tuch and Ruotsalainen on L2 between Asplund/Olofsson. Krebs and Arttu are sitting on four points in 25 games played combined this season. When it comes to the backend, Miller exited practice yesterday with a lingering injury he’s been dealing with for some time. I imagine that Casey Fitzgerald will be recalled to play with the NHL squad once more. Fitzgerald played in one game prior to the break, assisting on a goal and getting into a fight in the contest.
Carolina Hurricanes: Jesper Fast (R)/Stefan Noesen (R/L)/Brendan Smith (L/D)/Frederik Andersen (G) - Currently these four players are still in COVID protocol for the Hurricanes, after the majority have returned earlier in the week. Martin Necas is anticipated to come back from his injury and play in the top six alongside Trocheck/Svechnikov. Necas has 17 points in 27 games this season. Jack Drury is going to stay in the lineup on L4 after scoring two goals in two games to start his NHL career. Alex Lyon was recalled to backup Antti Raanta in the place of Andersen. Lyon has had one solid start with the big club this season.
Chicago Blackhawks: Marc-Andre Fleury (G) - The veteran goaltender was placed into COVID protocol, leaving Chicago scrambling at the position. Kevin Lankinen has struggled in his opportunities this season with an .884 SV% through 11 games played. Collin Delia was recalled from the minors and has 24 career games played at the NHL level.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Oliver Bjorkstrand (R/L)/Boone Jenner (C/L)/Joonas Korpisalo (G)/Eric Robinson (L) - These four were placed into COVID protocol over the last week or so. The Blue Jackets recalled Daniil Tarasov to start in the place of Korpisalo and he has been solid. Tarasov has a .936 SV% in three games played this season and may be coming through as the future in net for Columbus. Emil Bemstrom will center L2 between Domi/Voracek and make his 2021-22 debut. Bemstrom has 25 points in 76 games in the NHL and is still only 22 years old. Yegor Chinakov and Josh Dunne will play in the bottom six to replace the other two forwards in the lineup. Chinakov is 20 years old with five points in 19 games this season.
Colorado Avalanche: Darren Helm (C/L/R)/Pavel Francouz (G) - The majority of the Avalanche have worked through COVID this season and these two are who remain on the list when the squad returns to play. Mikko Rantanen, Logan O’Connor and Bowen Byram will be making their respective returns to the lineup at this moment. Callahan Burke is expected to take Helm’s spot on L4 with Jost/Aube-Kubel at the moment. Burke has 16 points in 23 AHL games this season. Hunter Miska is primed to back up Darcy Kuemper and he has six NHL contests under his belt over his career.
Dallas Stars: Miro Heiskanen (D)/Esa Lindell (D)/Jani Hakanpaa (D)/Roope Hintz (C/L)/Joel Kiviranta (L/R)/Jason Robertson (L/R)/Michael Raffl (L/R)/Radek Faksa (C) - The Stars are the next squad to go through a massive COVID outbreak within their ranks. Their games are postponed for the short term and Luke Glendening is not enough of a return from the injury list to replace all these players. Dallas is currently short five forwards and two defensemen to ice a full roster. Blake Comeau, Riley Damiani, Riley Tufte, Ty Dellandrea and Joel L’Esperance are the forwards I am identifying on their AHL roster as the likely call ups. All but L’Esperance have played an NHL game this season and Joel has five goals in 33 NHL tilts over his career. Thomas Harley and Alex Petrovic make some sense as the defense call ups given Harley is their top prospect Petrovic has 263 NHL games under his belt.
Detroit Red Wings: Lucas Raymond (R/L)/Adam Erne (L/R)/Joe Veleno (C)/Sam Gagner (C/R)/Nick Leddy (D)/Jordan Oesterle (D) - One of the benefits of the Detroit system is that they have quite a few players in the minors with NHL experience. They are going to utilize Kyle Criscuolo, Taro Hirose, Carter Rowney and Luke Witkowski in the bottom six. Out of those listed, I like Hirose the most. The undrafted forward has played in 43 games over his NHL career and produced with 16 points. Robby Fabbri is being given the first crack at L1 in the place of Raymond alongside Larkin/Bertuzzi. Fabbri has 14 points in 29 games this season. As far as the backend is concerned, Luke Witkowski could move to a bottom pair role if needed as he has the positional flexibility to play anywhere.
Edmonton Oilers: Jesse Puljujarvi (R)/Zack Kassian (R)/Josh Archibald (R/L)/Darnell Nurse (D)/William Lagesson (D) - As of the moment, these five skaters are out for Edmonton due to COVID protocols. Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto have been bumped up to the top two RW slots with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Foegele has been the more successful of the two with 11 points in 29 games. The leading scorer in the bottom six on the club is Ryan McLeod with three points in 18 games. All players have seen at least 12 games and cannot find a scoring touch. Slater Koekkoek and Dmitri Samorukov are being given opportunities on the backend. Slater is alongside Tyson Barrie in the second pair whereas Samorukov is expected to make his NHL debut with Evan Bouchard. Samorukov has only mustered three points in 15 AHL contests since coming over from Russia.
Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau (L)/Olli Juolevi (D) - One of the teams that have worked through most of their COVID issues already, the Panthers only have two players who remain on the list. I expect Eetu Luostarinen to return to the lineup to push Mason Marchment possibly into the Huberdeau slot on L2 alongside Bennett/Reinhart. All the time between games has allowed for multiple players to return from injury for Florida. Mason had a solid start to the season with seven points in 10 games. Matt Kiersted will likely be recalled to be the extra defenseman in case of emergency for Juolevi.
Los Angeles Kings: Dustin Brown (R/L)/Phillip Danault (C)/Olli Maatta (D)/Cal Petersen (G) - As of the moment, these four players are on the COVID protocol list for the Kings. The squad would move Alex Iafallo up to play with Kopitar/Kempe in Brown’s place. Iafallo has 20 points in 31 games this season, normally playing on L2. Alex Turcotte and Jaret Anderson-Dolan played center for L2 and L4 respectively, neither coming away with a point. Turcotte is one of their top prospects who has struggled in the minors this season. Garret Sparks and Jacob Moverare were recalled to hold down emergency backup roles in the instance that a goalie or defender became injured in warm ups last night. Sparks has played solid in his two games this season with a .936 SV%.
Minnesota Wild: Jonas Brodin (D) - The lone Wild member still on the COVID list, Brodin is currently being replaced by Calen Addison. Addison is one of the top defender prospects for Minnesota and he has one goal in three games played this season. He is currently slated to skate alongside Jon Merrill and likely quarterback a PP unit.
Montreal Canadiens: Tyler Toffoli (R/L)/Mike Hoffman (L/R)/Laurent Dauphin (C/L)/Artturi Lehkonen (L/R)/Jeff Petry (D)/Ben Chiarot (D)/Joel Edmundson (D)/Chris Wideman (D)/Jake Allen (G) - Possibly the longest list of players still in COVID protocol belongs to the Canadiens. They were already on struggle street with a full lineup and now have faced the worst situation they will find all season long. They are digging deep into their chest of prospects and the fans are getting a look at what the future may hold. Rafael Harvey-Pinard was given a prime role in the top six alongside Poehling/Caufield and found a way to score a goal against Tampa. Lukas Vejdemo also made his 2021-22 debut and scored on L4 with Pezzetta/Paquette. Corey Schueneman made his NHL debut outright and assisted on a goal alongside Sami Niku on the bottom pair, and Samuel Montembeault is the current starter in net. Montembeault has an SV% of just .892 this season.
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi (D)/Tomas Novak (C)/Colton Sissons (C/R) - The most important player on the Predators, Josi, is in COVID protocol along with two others as the squad returns to play tonight. Despite this fact, the team is going to go with an 11/7 look as Matt Duchene returns to the lineup on L1. I expect Alexandre Carrier to see more opportunities on the PP and in offensive situations as he is the most gifted defender outside of Josi on the backend. Ben Harpur will play as the 7th defenseman, going pointless through six games this season. Nick Cousins will take the C3 spot between Tomasino/Trenin, a pair of wingers that were moving pretty well prior to the break.
New Jersey Devils: Tomas Tatar (L/R)/Jon Gillies (G) - These two remain on COVID protocol for the Devils as they return to play against the Sabres today. Due to this, the squad is still stuck with Mason Geertsen on L4 with McLeod/Bastian. Akira Schmid is backing up Mackenzie Blackwood tonight, Akira has an .851 SV% in three games this season.
New York Islanders: Anthony Beauvillier (L)/Brock Nelson (C/L)/Oliver Wahlstrom (C/R)/Zach Parise (L)/Cal Clutterbuck (R)/Matt Martin (R/L)/Robin Salo (D) - Another team, like Montreal, that is going to be going through it this week are the Islanders. They are bottom five in the league at the moment and will be missing quite a few veterans from their lineup. Austin Czarnik is being given an opportunity to play on L2 with Pageau/Bellows, and then the squad is prepared to go with multiple different options in the bottom six. Currently they have recalled Simon Holmstrom, Michael Dal Colle and Cole Bardreau to play and make their 2021-22 debuts. Holmstrom is the only one of the three without any NHL experience, returning to North America from Sweden this season. I believe Richard Panik is a valid recall at this time given his experience in the league and being able to actually play an L3 role. In 541 games over his NHL career, Panik has 200 points. I anticipate Thomas Hickey being a recall to be on the taxi squad and serve as an extra defender for a similar reason given his experience.
New York Rangers: Kevin Rooney (C/L/R)/Jarred Tinordi (D)/Ryan Lindgren (D)/Alex Georgiev (G) - These four Rangers are currently still in COVID protocol as the squad returns to play tonight. The return of Artemi Panarin assists the lineup, allowing Barclay Goodrow to go to C4 in the place of Rooney. Goodrow has played all over the lineup this season, putting up 11 points in 30 games. Libor Hajek is being given an opportunity to take the place of Lindgren on the top pair alongside Norris's trophy winner Adam Fox. Hajek has no points in four games this season, but 10 in 81 over his career. Nils Lundvist is also returning to the starting lineup on the bottom pair with Patrik Nemeth, two Swedes who will see more ice time than normal I imagine. Keith Kinkaid was recalled to take the place of Georgiev, the veteran netminder has one start this season and it was solid.
Ottawa Senators: Anton Forsberg (G)/Filip Gustavsson (G) - The goalie situation in Ottawa reminds me of last season when they were playing musical chairs at the position. The only goaltender they have who isn’t on COVID protocol at the NHL level is Matt Murray. Murray has had a roller coaster career that saw him have arguably the best start to anybody's time in the NHL. However, now Murray is struggling to make up for his cap hit and the .890 SV% this season is an eyesore. Mads Sogaard is the better of the two prospects in the minors and may receive the call up, the next great Dane goalie.
Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton (C/L)/Derick Brassard (C/L)/Sean Couturier (C)/Ryan Ellis (D)/Carter Hart (G) - The Flyers are definitely going to struggle these next several days missing these five players. There are no slouches or minor players in protocol for Philly at this time. Kevin Hayes has been boosted to L1 between Farabee/Konecny and Gerald Mayhew was recalled to play on L3 with Frost/van Riemsdyk. Mayhew is one of the top scorers in the AHL on a yearly basis but has only played 17 NHL games. Kevin Connauton is going to play with Keith Yandle on the bottom pair as Justin Braun takes Ryan Ellis’s spot on the top duo. Felix Sandstrom is backing up Martin Jones at this time, and he has struggled mightily in the minors this season with an .896 SV%.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Jason Zucker (L/R)/Dominik Simon (L/R)/Teddy Blueger (C/L)/Evan Rodrigues (C/R)/Pierre Olivier Joseph (D)/Mike Matheson (D)/John Marino (D)/Tristan Jarry (G) - There were not many injuries over the last week due to the holiday break, but Zucker was able to find a way. He was injured in practice and ended up on the reserve list as a result. Luckily for the Penguins, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Brian Boyle are all skating with the team at the moment. Of course, three of those four names are going to slot into the top six when healthy and become immediate fantasy impacts. The squad is forming a bottom pair of Mark Friedman and Juuso Riikola, they have combined for five assists in 16 games this season. Lastly, veteran goaltender Louis Domingue is slated to back up Casey DeSmith this week. Domingue has 140 NHL games under his belt and a .918 SV% in the minors this season.
Seattle Kraken: Mason Appleton (R/C)/Ryan Donato (L/C)/Vince Dunn (D)/Adam Larsson (D) - The expansion squad has four players currently in COVID protocol as they prepare for their tilt today. Both Colin Blackwell and Max McCormick are expected to play in the bottom six on the wing, Blackwell with three points in eight games this season with the big club. As far as defense is concerned, the bottom pair will be Haydn Fleury and Will Borgen. Fleury has three points in 17 games and may see PP time with Dunn out of the lineup.
San Jose Sharks: Jonathan Dahlen (C/L)/Adin Hill (G) - The Sharks were the first team to be affected by COVID in a big way this season and thus suffered the consequences. They played their 10th defenseman in the pipeline due to games not being postponed. Last night the club gave Jeffery Truchon-Viel a look on L4 and he came through with a goal as part of the 8-7 win. Zach Sawchenko backed up James Riemer in the game and did not get in on the action despite the score. Sawchenko has been pretty bad in the minors this season with an .859 SV%, but one could argue that he couldn’t do much worse.
St. Louis Blues: Ivan Barbashev (C/L)/Dakota Joshua (C)/James Neal (L/R)/Robert Bortuzzo (D) - These four Blues are currently in COVID protocol. Luckily for St. Louis, they are expecting to see David Perron and Jordan Kyrou returning to the lineup very soon, and even possibly tonight. Robert Thomas will take Barbashev’s spot between Buchnevich/Tarasenko, one of the hottest lines in hockey prior to the break. They are currently looking at going with an 11/7 approach, utilizing Jake Walman as an extra defender and Scott Perunovich in the spot of Bortuzzo on the bottom pair. Nathan Walker will likely play in the bottom five to be the 11th forward as he’s currently still placed within the taxi squad. The Australian scored a hat trick prior to the break, and has five points in 6 games.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy (G)/Brian Elliott (G)/Andrej Sustr (D)/Anthony Cirelli (C)/Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (C/L)/Mikhail Sergachev (D) - Despite missing so many pieces to their roster, including both goaltenders, the Lightning came out victorious over the Canadiens last night. Brayden Point returned to the lineup at C2 and continued to play as he does, at an elite level. Taylor Raddysh was bumped to L1 to play with Stamkos/Palat and Gabriel Fortier returned to L4. Sean Day and Cale Foote were the bottom pair in the place of Sergachev and Sustr, Day making his NHL debut. Foote has one assist in 20 games this season and has struggled at times to stay in the lineup as a result. Maxime Lagace took the win in his first start of 2021-22 and his rates were not great as expected. The backup in Hugo Alnefelt is a young netminder who is definitely struggling to find his way in North America and I would not expect much out of him if he plays.
Toronto Maple Leafs: William Nylander (R/L)/Ilya Mikheyev (L/R)/David Kampf (C/R)/Rasmus Sandin (D)/Jake Muzzin (D)/Morgan Rielly (D)/Petr Mrazek (G) - The Leafs are being tested when it comes to this list of 7 players on COVID protocol. Luckily for them they do have the depth to withstand these blows to a degree, and the return of Mitch Marner is to be expected shortly. Kyle Clifford and Joey Anderson are slated to play on L3 with Pierre Engvall, Clifford currently with three assists in eight games this season. Timothy Liljegren has been placed on the top pair with TJ Brodie, the former 1st round pick has four assists in 19 games. The bottom duo of defense will make their 2021-22 debuts respectively, both Alex Biega and Carl Dahlstrom have been in the minors. They are veterans of this league with over 300 games played combined, the majority being by Biega. I anticipate Joseph Woll to back up Jack Campbell when the time comes as Woll has outperformed Michael Hutchinson this season.
Vegas Golden Knights: Mark Stone (R)/Robin Lehner (G)/Evgeni Dadonov (R/L)/Brett Howden (C)/Alex Pietrangelo (D) - One of the few situations where there were injuries I didn’t cover in my reports prior to the break, both Stone and Lehner are currently on the mend. Stone is out for a while with his injury whereas Robin is day to day. To make matters worse, three players were placed into COVID protocol. Despite all of this, Vegas beat the Kings last night. Mattias Janmark was bumped up to L1 with Stephenson/Pacioretty and scored a goal in the place of Stone. Adam Brooks and Jake Leschyshyn were given opportunities to play on L4 with Michael Amadio, currently at a combined six points in 29 games this season. Brayden McNabb tried to take over the brunt of Pietrangelo’s minutes with Shea Theodore on the top pair, and Nicolas Hague returned to the lineup as well. Laurent Brossoit played in his 12th game of the season as the starting netminder, sitting on a .907 SV% this season.
Washington Capitals: TJ Oshie (R)/Daniel Sprong (R/L)/Martin Fehervary (D)/Nick Jensen (D)/Justin Schultz (D)/Dennis Cholowski (D)/Vitek Vanecek (G) - Although half of their starting six defenders is in COVID protocol at the moment, I am interested to see how the Capitals look. I believe Michael Kempny is an underrated veteran that will seize this opportunity with the NHL club and not be sent back down when this is over. He has played in 262 NHL games. In addition to that, Alexander Alexeyev is slated to make his NHL debut, a 2018 1st rounder who last season showed true offensive potential in the minors prior to going to Russia to finish the year. Aliaksei Protas is taking Oshie’s spot on L2 with Sheary/Backstrom, the Belarusian forward has six points in 20 games this year. Lastly, Phoenix Copley is backing up Ilya Samsonov in Vanecek’s absence.
Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Copp (L/C)/Kristian Vesalainen (L/R) - As a means of replacing these two that were placed into COVID protocol, the Jets are shaping up for an 11/7 look. David Gustafsson is returning to action as part of the bottom five forwards, already with 27 games played in the NHL despite being only 21 years old. Jansen Harkins took the place of Copp on L2 with Dubois/Connor, currently only with five points this season in 30 games.