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 94 players held out of lineups. Five of those are long term injuries from a previous year. Those players are likely not to return or have retired. That leaves 89 who have been hurt this season. Here are some of the more notable ouches out there and their possible prognosis on this Friday.

With the increased Christmas spirit, the column is a little lighter which means some good news for fantasy owners.

Centers

Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa (not a center) are both out with possible shoulder injuries and will likely remain out until next week at the earliest. Considering the two players both have hit double-digits in goals, it is a significant loss even if short term. At least Corey Crawford is healthy after having his appendix removed. The problem is, Anisimov and Hossa make up so much of Chicago’s offense. We should know more by next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Paul Stastny is on the 7-day injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered earlier this week. It is not believed to be a week-to-week malady but significant enough to keep him out of action past Christmas. Teams are being extra cautious this time of year to avoid rushing back players so check back on social media in four or five days to see the latest.

Wingers

Nikita Kucherov is ailing from a lower-body injury that has landed him on Injured Reserve. He was seen flexing his knee last week but no one is sure if that is the real problem. The winger had been skating gingerly for the past week or so. It could be a minor ligament injury or even a hamstring. He will be out until at least another 5-to-7 days.

Mark Stone is being held out of Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks with the flu. The Senators forward had been heating up offensively but apparently was running a significant fever on Thursday and just could not play. The good news is that he should be able to rest up during the Christmas break and be fine in several days.

Rick Nash returned to the injury list after a groin injury to the other side of the nether-region. This will potentially sideline him for another week. Nash never seemed to recover from the original injury quite right, so this isn’t exactly surprising. Whatever the case may be, the fact is the winger is not 100% and that is all that matters. That should be a concern for the Rangers power play and is troubling news for fantasy owners.

Defensemen

P.K. Subban will also be out past Christmas with an upper-body injury (believed to be a shoulder). This could not be confirmed but Subban is expected to come back sometime late next week or the following week. Nashville is being overly cautions with the defenseman so that nothing worse comes from the malady. Some have even speculated that this could be an AC joint issue but again could not be confirmed.

Andrei Markov was placed on the injured reserve list last week with a lower-body injury. The Montreal Canadiens defenseman had been having a bounce-back campaign before he became the second Montreal defender to succumb to a malady. He is expected to miss about a week more and may be available as soon as early next week. The injury is not believed to be that bad.

Trevor Daley joined Kris Letang on the injury list for Pittsburgh with an upper body injury. This does not appear to be all that serious. However, he has been out several days now and could potentially miss another week or so. It is something to be monitored but Daley only contributes on a fringe basis fantasy wise anyway. This will not break you and the Christmas break is near anyhow.

Goalies

Ben Bishop will be out at least until next week at a minimum with what is being termed a lower body injury. When he could not put any weight on the leg, one knew it was a problem. Fortunately, tests did not reveal any major damage but Jon Cooper wants Bishop to be the backup for now. Maybe the rest will do him some good because Tampa is not going to rush him back until he is completely healthy.

Jimmy Howard will miss 4-to-6 weeks with a Grade 2 MCL sprain suffered against Tampa Bay. His 7-day IR trip will now be an extended stint. Petr Mrazek will get the lion's share of starts on a team that is increasingly allowing more chances and goals per game. Detroit almost has a double digit number of injuries and that should scare some fantasy owners when considering their players.

Andrew Hammond will be out for at least several weeks with a high ankle sprain. The injury occurred last weekend and is going to keep the Ottawa goalie out potentially till as late as the middle of February. It really is a bad break for the Senators given that they do not know when Craig Anderson will come and go as his wife battles cancer. It looks like Mike Condon will stay up with the big club past the All-Star Break.

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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, Helene Elliott, George Richards, Dan Rosen, and Selene Parekh of The Fantasy Doctors for all of their information.