Welcome to the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Once a week, we’ll take a look at some injuries around the league that may affect your fantasy hockey team. Injuries will always happen and you can’t predict when, but it’s important to be ready for the aftermath and to have a plan ready. Let’s take a look and some players who are on the shelf for the upcoming week and beyond.
Cam Ward - Chicago Blackhawks - Goalie
Injury: knee, seven-to-ten days.
Cam Ward isn’t really fantasy hockey relevant at this point in the season, but there are problem some fantasy owners who still have him on their team. The veteran goalie is dealing with a knee injury and it looks like he will be out of the lineup for seven-to-ten days. At this point, Ward can be dropped. Fantasy playoffs are around the corner and freeing up that roster spot at this point in the season is huge.
Mike Green - Detroit Red Wings - Defence
Injury: illness, seven-to-ten days.
Welcome back to the injury report, Mike Green. The Red Wings’ defenceman is dealing with an illness and is expected to be out of the lineup for just over a week. He’s the best defenceman on the team, fantasy wise, so it may be best to hold onto him for another week, if possible. If he were to be out longer than that, fantasy owners can go ahead and drop him.
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils - Center
Injury: upper-body, day-to-day.
The injury to nico Hischier doesn’t seem to be serious, but as of this moment, there is a chance that he isn’t ready to go Friday night when the Devils play the Capitals. The 20-year-old is on pace to surpass his total of 52-points from last season, but if the former first overall pick in 2017 misses a couple of games due to this knee injury, he will most likely fall short of the 50-point plateau. We should get an update on Hischier’s status before Thursday.
Jakub Voracek - Philadelphia Flyers - Winger
Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.
Voracek was not in the lineup for the Flyers’ last game and he has already been confirmed out for Wednesday’s game against the Capitals. The team hasn’t given an update on his status, so this puts fantasy owners in a difficult situation. Voracek could miss the entire week with his lower-body injury, or he could be back by this weekend. Fantasy owners are hoping that he will return sooner rather than later, but if that isn’t the case, he may need to be dropped, and that would be a huge blow. For now, the veteran forward can be kept on the bench until we have more information.
Derek Stepan - Arizona Coyotes - Center
Injury: lower-body, four-to-six weeks.
Derek Stepan’s fantasy season is officially over. The veteran centerman is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury, which would mean the earliest he could return is mid-april, and by that time, fantasy hockey is over. Stepan isn’t a huge fantasy loss, but he would have been a nice depth option for many teams. The Coyotes don’t have many other options down the middle to replace him, so it may take a few games to see who emerges as the second line center.