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. 

Connor McDavid - Edmonton Oilers - Center

Injury: leg, two-to-three weeks.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid is expected to be out of the lineup two-to-three weeks as he recovers from a quad injury. The team has been very quiet about the injury, but GM Ken Holland did say that McDavid would travel back to Toronto to work with his recovery team. We don’t know how serious the injury really is, and we may not know until a few weeks down the road. This is a huge blow for fantasy owners, and there is no way to replace a player of his caliber. Let's hope that he can return to action in three weeks.

Jaroslav Halak - Boston Bruins - Goalie

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

Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak was a late scratch Saturday afternoon with what the team is calling an upper-body injury. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game that the injury “flared up” in warmup and that was the reason why Halak couldn’t make his scheduled start. The veteran netminder has been excellent this season-- posting a 2.36 GAA and a .921 SV%-- and now the team will have to rely heavily on Tukka Rask to carry the load. He’s perfectly capable of doing it, but the goaltending tandem in Boston has provided the team with the luxury of having two good fresh goalies ready for the playoffs. Hopefully Halak can return sooner rather than later.

Cam Atkinson - Columbus Blue Jackets - Winger

Injury: undisclosed, day-to-day.

It should surprise no one that the Columbus Blue Jackets are dealing with more injuries. They just can’t seem to stay healthy long enough to have their full roster intact. Cam Atkinson missed Monday’s game due to an “undisclosed” injury, but it looks like he is dealing with an ankle injury. He suffered the injury in the third period against the Avalanche, and despite finishing the game, he was not able to suit up for the following game. It’s been a season to forget for Atkinson, and fantasy owners may be ready to move on from him should he be forced to miss an extended period of time.

Seth Jones - Columbus Blue Jackets - Defence

Injury: ankle, eight-to-ten weeks.

The injury to Atkinson isn’t great, but the news that Seth Jones is out eight-to-ten weeks is just devastating. If the timeline is true, Jones would miss the remainder of the regular season, and possibly the first round of the players, should they make it that far. For fantasy owners, this is a huge blow. In redraft leagues, he can be dropped. Even if he were to return in eight weeks, that puts him timeline around April 11, and fantasy playoffs are done by that time. There’s no point holding onto a player that won’t be able to help your team make it to the playoffs. Like McDavid, it’s hard to replace a player like Jones, so owners will have to work the waiver wire extra hard to make up for his lost production.

Steven Stamkos - Tampa Bay Lightning - Center/Winger

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

It seems like this week’s injury report is brutal, with so many key players missing in action due to some pretty serious injuries. In the case of Steven Stamkos, we don’t know how serious his lower-body is, but he is missing his second game and the team hasn’t said when they expect him to return. The captain has been as steady as any superstar in the league-- scoring 26-goals and adding 33-assists-- and like most of the other players mentioned above, you can’t replace that kind of talent. The Lightning are in action again Thursday against the Oilers, so maybe the veteran forward can return for that game. Keep monitoring the situation closely.

Evgeny Kuznetsov - Washington Capitals - Center

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

With so many injuries this week, this will be an extended version of the injury report, which is not something anyone wants to hear. Capitals centerman Evgeny Kuznetsov left Monday’s game due to an upper-body injury and did not return. He was also not present at the team’s Tuesday morning practice, so his status for Thursday's game is still up in the air. Hopefully he can return to practice before their next game, but he did take a crushing hit from Leo Komarov and he may be dealing with something serious enough that the team decides to give him some extra rest. Hopefully we get more information during the week.

Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils - Center

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

Nico Hischier has now missed the last four games due to a cut on his left knee and we still have no timetable for his return. The laceration seems to be serious enough that he can’t play, and all he’s been doing recently is skating on his own. The good news is that he’s skating, so a return to the lineup shouldn’t be too far away, but fantasy owners need to start planning for the week ahead, and as of right now, if you can’t stash him on the waiver wire, it’s time to consider dropping him.