Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. The season is now in full swing, and so are the injuries. 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.
Victor Olofsson - Buffalo Sabres - Winger
Injury: lower-body, five-to-six weeks.
Things are going from bad to worse for the Buffalo Sabres. Already without Jeff Skinner, they will be without Victor Olofsson for five-to-six weeks due to a lower-body injury. The rookie has been excellent this season, and this loss will leave a huge hole in their top-6. For fantasy owners, it’s best to stash him on IR and wait for him to return. If you can’t hold onto him, maybe look to trade him for something rather than just dropping him.
Robin Lehner - Chicago Blackhawks - Goalie
Injury: knee, day-to-day.
Chicago goalie Robin Lehner is missing his second straight game due to a knee injury and there is no timetable for his return. His 2.92 GAA isn’t great, but his .922 SV% tells a completely different story. The Blackhawks give up the most shots on goal per game, so it’s not surprising that he’s giving up a high number of goals. The good news here is that Crawford has been even worse, so there’s no fear that he will take over the starting job even once Lehner is healthy. When he will return is another story, but for now, all we can do is wait for another update.
Logan Couture - San Jose Sharks - Center
Injury: knee, day-to-day.
San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return. He fell into the boards awkwardly, and his knee looks to have bent in a direction that isn’t very friendly. We should get an update on his injury status in the coming days, so there’s no need to panic right now.
Jonathan Marchessault - Vegas Golden Knights - Winger
Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.
Jonathan Marchessault has now missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury, but the team refuses to give us any additional information, and they don’t look willing to put him on IR. These leaves fantasy owners in a tough situation-- one where you can’t put him on IR and must stash him on your bench-- but I guess the good news here is that he must not be that far away from returning to action. The Golden Knights play again on Thursday, so hopefully he will be ready to return then.
Antti Raanta - Arizona Coyotes - Goalie
Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.
Already without the services of Darcy Kuemper, Antti Raanta is sidelined with a lower-body injury and all we know is that he is considered day-to-day. Losing your two top goalies to injury isn’t a recipe for success, so the Coyotes are hoping that Raanta won’t be out of the lineup for too long. Like most of the players above, the team hasn’t given us much information to work with, so we will need to take a wait-and-see approach before deciding what action to take next. Even if he were to be ready to return on Thursday, it would be best to bench him against a super hot Tampa Bay Lightning team.