It is never easy to foresee the unforeseen. Injuries happen every day in the NHL and here at Fantasy Alarm, our goal will be to help you try to stay on top of those maladies. Counting all the latest bumps, bites and bruises, there were 100 players held out of lineups. Six of those are long-term injuries from a previous year. Those players are likely not to return or have retired. That leaves 94 who have been hurt this season. Here are some of the more notable ouches out there and their possible prognosis on this Friday.

Centers

Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais are both out 6-to-8 weeks with knee injuries. How often does a team lose two of their centers at the same time and to the same basic malady? Partial ligament tears of what is believed to be the MCL are never fun. The good news is both centers are expected to make a full recovery and that neither injury was the dreaded ACL. Now, this is where hoping Montreal’s depth comes to the forefront.

Jonathan Marchessault is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury and Florida could really use him back in the lineup as the Panthers were clubbed 5-1 at home Thursday night. That speed dynamic he brings and shoot-first mentality are clearly missing. George Richards has reported that Marchessault will, at the least “miss a few more games”. This could be soreness in the groin area but has not been confirmed.

Rickard Rakell has been day-to-day also with a lower-body injury. He is, at least, skating in a red non-contact jersey which leads some to believe this is leg related. That does not narrow it down much but with limited information, it does become a bit of a guessing game. Barring a huge step forward, he will be out again Friday but could return over the weekend or early next week. This is not a serious injury.

Wingers

Kris Versteeg is ailing from the dreaded general body soreness. This is something that usually keeps Tuukka Rask out of the lineup but has caused Versteeg to miss at least a game and maybe one more. It just depends on how he is feeling over the weekend. Something must have gotten hyperextended during the week to cause this. This is minor so do not be surprised if he is back in very short order.

Patrick Sharp is back on Injured Reserve due to concussion-like symptoms. This is particularly troublesome because of his history with head injuries and the fact that he literally just came back from IR. His prognosis is far more uncertain this time around and will be something that needs to be monitored on a weekly basis. Progress may be very slow.

Rick Nash joins the injury list with a groin issue that should keep him out for about a week. The Islanders game Tuesday was a particularly bad one for the Rangers as Jimmy Vesey is now day-to-day with an upper-body injury as well. New York went from one player to five on their injury list in a blink of an eye. This groin strain is believed to be minor and just needs brief rest before Nash skates. Barring any setbacks, the winger will be back mid-to-late next week.

Defensemen

Philip Larsen has been placed on Injured Reserve with a head/neck injury. He suffered it Tuesday night when Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils leveled him with a vicious hit behind the net. Fortunately, Larsen had movement of all extremities in very short order. However, Vancouver is taking no chances and will keep the defenseman out for at least a little while.

Greg Pateyrn is day-to-day for now with a fractured ankle he suffered earlier in the week and played an entire period with it against St. Louis. He will miss about eight weeks and be likely be placed on Injured Reserve over the weekend. This will allow Zach Redmond a chance to stick with Montreal as he is just getting over a foot injury himself. Pateyrn should be able to return by the first week of February.

Goalies

Corey Crawford will be out at least another couple of weeks after having his appendix removed earlier in the week. Scott Darling will see a lot of starts which will be a help for fantasy owners looking for rare goalie starts from anywhere at this point. Thankfully, there seem to be no complications from the removal and Crawford should be able to start skating once the stitches and/or staples fully heal.

Ryan Miller may be a player to keep an eye on. He left the Vancouver game late in the third period with an undisclosed injury and had to be replaced by Jacob Markstrom. It appeared as if he pulled or twisted something. He made 38 saves on 39 shots before the injury. This is expected to only be minor, according to the coaching staff, and the soreness is not expected to keep him out much, if any, time at all.

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Chris Wassel can be heard on Fantasy Hockey X every week and on various places throughout the internet. He can be followed on Fantasy Alarm and Twitter @ChrisWasselDFS. A special thanks this week to nhl.com, George Richards, Mark Lazerus, and Selene Parekh of The Fantasy Doctors for all of their information.