Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Hockey Injury Report. Every week, we will discuss some key injuries around the league and how they may affect your fantasy hockey team. It’s never easy to deal with the injury bug, but it doesn’t have to be the demise of your fantasy hockey lineup. Let’s take a look at who’s dealing with what this week!

 

Fantasy Hockey NHL Injury Report

Steven Stamkos - Tampa Bay Lightning - Lower-body

Tampa Bay captain has missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury and is considered as day-to-day. We don’t know when he suffered the injury, so it’s hard to pinpoint what could be keeping him out of the lineup. The veteran has dealt with his fair share of injuries over the course of his career, but it becomes even more important for him to stay healthy this season as both sides look to work out a contract for the foreseeable future. We’ll need to wait for another update from the team before deciding what to do with him in fantasy leagues.

Sebastian Aho - Carolina Hurricanes - Upper-body

Three games into the season and Sebastian Aho is already missing hockey games. He was a late scratch against the San Jose Shark and the team is calling him day-to-day. Carolina is already dealing with some pretty significant injuries, so losing Aho for any extended period of time would not be good.

Frederik Andersen - Carolina Hurricanes - Upper-body

Sticking with the Carolina Hurricanes, goaltender Frederik Andersen left the last game after facing just one shot for precautionary reasons after taking a puck to the mask. The veteran netminder has dealt with his fair share of injuries in his career, including last season when he missed significant time. If you drafted Andersen, you knew his injury problems would be an issue at some point, so here we are. For now, he’s considered day-to-day, but wait for another update to see how they decide to move forward. 

Zach Werenski - Columbus Blue Jackets - Quadriceps

Blue Jackets defenceman is expected to miss over a week due to a leg injury he suffered in the first game of the season. A week doesn’t sound too bad, but this isn’t the first time Werensko has dealt with injuries. He missed most of last season due to a lower-body injury and here we are one game into the year. His goal is to play on Friday, so let’s see if he can make that a reality.

Viktor Arvidsson - Los Angeles Kings - Back

Viktor Arvidsson missed the start of the regular season due to a back injury and is now considered month-to-month. This isn’t the news anyone wanted to hear, but here we are. We know that Arvidsson can contribute offensively, but his season debut will have to wait and we don’t know for how long. If you can stash him on IR, go ahead and do that and wait for an update in a few weeks.

Matt Boldy - Minnesota Wild - Upper-body

Matt Boldy was unable to suit up against Montreal due to an upper-body injury and is considered week-to-week. The Wild don’t know how serious the injury is, but we should find out more when the team returns home from their road trip. Boldy hurt himself against Toronto and it’s serious enough that he wasn’t able to play the next game. Minnesota doesn’t have a ton of offensive depth and they are strapped for cap space, so if Boldy is out long-term, this could really hurt them as a team.

Kirby Dach - Montreal Canadiens - Knee

Centre Kirby Dach will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury against the Chicago Blackhawks. It was confirmed that he tore his ACL and MCL, so he will take the entire year to rehab and be ready for 2024. The Canadiens have barely made it a week into the season and are already down a key player for the season. Dach was only 6% owned in most Yahoo! leagues, so there’s a good chance he was probably floating around the waiver wire. If he was on your team, he can be dropped. 

Alex Pietrangelo - Vegas Golden Knights - Upper-body

Alex Pietrangelo has missed the last two games due to an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. He was a no-show at practice on Monday and didn’t play on Tuesday, so it doesn’t sound like he’s making progress. The veteran defenceman is part of a very good Vegas defence, so any extended period of time out of the lineup would certainly hurt the team. At this point, it’s unlikely he plays on the road against Chicago and Winnipeg.