Welcome back to the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Hockey is back, which means injuries are back too. You can’t avoid them, but we can get a head start and plan around them. The injury report will be out every week to help you plan the rest of your fantasy hockey week. Let’s take a look at which key players are dealing with injuries. 

Pavel Francouz - Colorado Avalanche - Goalie

Injury: head, day-to-day.

After losing Grubauer to injury, Pavel Francouz left Tuesday’s game against Winnipeg after Mark Scheifele bulldozed him just 30 seconds into the game. The team hasn’t confirmed if their backup goalie suffered a concussion or not, but he is expected to be out Thursday against Edmonton, and there’s a good chance that he misses Saturday’s game against Vancouver as well. Colorado has been hit by the injury bug a lot early in the season, but losing two goalies in the span of a week is just brutal. We should get an update on his condition later on in the week.

Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins - Center

Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.

There are concerns that Sidney Crosby could miss about four-to-six week with a sports hernia if he elects to undergo surgery. The team has said that Crosby has been dealing with the injury since training camp, but that he aggravated it in Saturday’s game against Chicago. Although the course of treatment is still undecided, Sid missing any time would really hurt the Penguins, considering the team is already without Kris Letang. Everyone expects the Penguins’ captain to have the surgery, which hopefully, would see him make a full recovery and allow him to come back strong to finish the season. Fantasy owners may want to start looking for his replacement as of now!

Mitch Marner - Toronto Maple Leafs - Center

Injury: ankle, minimum four weeks.

The team has confirmed that Mitch Marner suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday’s game against the Flyers and that he is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks. According to Marner, the news could have been a lot worse. High ankle sprains are very tricky, and the recovery time can vary quite a bit. He won’t be able to skate for the next couple of weeks, and if he can stay off his feet, there’s a good chance that we see him back around Christmas. Zach Hyman is making his return to the Leafs lineup, so he will most likely take Marner’s spot on the second line. 

Torey Krug - Boston Bruins - Defence

Injury: upper-body, day-to-day.

Bruins’ defenceman Tory Krug left Sunday’s game against the Flyers and was not available to play Tuesday against the Panthers. Head coach Bruce Cassidy hasn’t said much about the defenceman’s injury, only that he would have more information on Monday. It’s Wednesday and no one just how serious the injury is or how long they expect Krug to be out of the lineup. For fantasy owners, no news isn’t exactly good news. We should know more as the week moves on, but for now, it’s best to start looking for a replacement on the waiver wire.

Roope Hintz - Dallas Stars - Center

Injury: lower-body, one week.

Center Roope Hintz has already missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury, and it looks like he won’t be ready to go before next Tuesday. In this case, at least we have a timeline to work with. There’s a chance that he’s not ready to go by that point, but fantasy owners can move on and look for a short-term solution on the waiver wire. The Stars offence is a mess, so Hintz possibly returning next week is positive news. In total, it looks like the like 22-year-old will miss five games.