Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! Welcome back to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday and Sunday I will be taking you through injury news and updates from around the NHL. I’ll do my best to offer useful analysis and opinion as it relates to fantasy throughout. At the end of the article is the Quarantine section, where any players out due to illness will be listed. As always I’d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.
Injuries / Leaves
Mikko Rantanen / Dallas Stars – Rantanen (lower body) has resumed skating, but his return to the lineup isn’t imminent, per Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports on Tuesday. Rantanen hasn’t played for Dallas since February 4th and had six points in his last five games before the Olympics. He was pretty decent for Finland in the tournament having the same six points in five games, but they ultimately fell short of their goal.
Aleksander Barkov / Florida Panthers – Barkov (knee) took the ice Tuesday in a non-contact sweater, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports. Barkov has not played a single game this season, and I’m not sure I expect him to at this point. That’s solely based on the team recently resting a few of its top players who are reportedly already playing through injuries, but this might be one of the first instances of outright load management in the NHL. I’m sure the Panthers would love a shot at a top 10 pick, which they are only one point ahead of at the time being.
Sam Reinhart / Florida Panthers – Reinhart (undisclosed) was spotted at practice with the Panthers this morning, and may be returning to the lineup for tomorrow’s game against the Blue Jackets. Good news for his owners, who were not very happy to have one of the highest rated players this season on Yahoo suddenly sitting out at the beginning of many playoff schedules. I myself have him in a league, but I wasn’t too pressed about it since he’s been cheeks for the last few weeks and my roster was too full to drop anyone and play the waiver for a few extra games played especially in an especially light off night week for games. With 59 points in 63 games in 2025-26, Sam has been doing his best to capture the magic of his last few seasons but has been falling just short. He’s been fairly streaky, but still contributes pretty great peripherals across the board for a near point per game player. Mackie Samoskevich has been on the top unit in his and Marchand’s absence, as well as Lundell who has held a spot there for a while now.
Jake Sanderson / Ottawa Senators – Sanderson (upper body) is week-to-week, Jackson Starr of the Senators’ official site reports Monday. Sanderson had been having a career year so far, pacing for 63 points, having only reached 59 last season. The guy plays massive minutes for the Senators, playing nearly half of every game with an average of 24:49 TOI. I don’t like this injury for Ottawa’s chances at a wild card spot, which they are currently five points out of. Not to mention they’re chasing teams like Columbus (hot right now), Boston, and Detroit. The East is going to come down to the wire for five or six of these squads. Thomas Chabot has taken over top powerplay duties in Sanderson’s absence with Jordan Spence on the second unit blueline.
Darren Raddysh / Tampa Bay Lightning – Raddysh (personal) was unavailable for Tuesday’s home matchup against the Blue Jackets. Darren is currently away from the team dealing with the death of his father. All the best to the Raddysh family and their circle in such a tough time. Darren had to have been making his father proud this year, and he’s currently the top UFA points-wise in the NHL after this season after Nick Schmaltz just signed his 8×8 deal. I think you’ll all agree that Raddysh has been the best waiver wire pick up this year with point producing defenseman being so thin around the league. He’s pacing for 85 points over 82 games, and I also don’t think any of us would have pegged him for that before the season. The man only put up over a point per game in his seventh and last season in the AHL in 2022-23. Talk about a late bloomer. Good for him, and I look forward to his 45-point season in Toronto after signing a 6×9.5 million contract this offseason.
Shayne Gostisbehere / Carolina Hurricanes – Gostisbehere (lower body) is expected to miss another couple of games, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes’ official site reports Tuesday. Gostisbehere has now missed 16 games this season, coming in spurts. He’s on pace for about one injury per month and the Hurricanes are pretty lucky to have some offensive capability behind him in the lineup in Nikishin and Miller. With 43 points in 45 games Shayne has been a great producer when in the lineup, but he’s frequently frustrating fantasy owners, especially in weekly set lineup leagues. At least three weeks have I set him in my lineup and when Monday rolls around, he’s announced as out for the week. The way she goes in this fickle game we all love I guess. Thrice bit, and I’ll continue to be bitten since there are nearly zero defenders available who won’t be putting up the same zeros all week.
Dylan Larkin / Detroit Red Wings – Larkin (leg) did not play in Tuesday’s road matchup versus the Panthers. Larkin has now been absent for two games so far this week, and there’s some expectation that he does not return on this roadtrip, ending on Saturday in Dallas. Larkin has been producing a bit under his average for the last five years, having only a 0.87 PTS/G pace right now (55 in 63 GP). His ice time is up 10 seconds a game, and his peripheral cats are all still right on pace with recent past averages.
Brad Marchand / Florida Panthers – Marchand (lower body) is expected to be out for weeks due to a lingering injury, George Richards of NHL.com reports Monday. Marchand has missed games sporadically recently, playing in 11 of the past 16 Panther’s games. Florida’s decision to sit its ailing* stars at the beginning of fantasy hockey playoffs has many owners up in arms about the tactic. This all comes as the team is making a dive towards a top ten pick in the draft. It’s convenient timing for the squad to sit the likes of Reinhart and Marchand, but you can’t really call foul since these guys may well have been injured for a while. No one can tell. Marchand at least has seen a diminished TOI role in the past month or two of games, seeing under 13 minutes on five different occasions.
Connor Ingram / Edmonton Oilers – Ingram (head) left the Oilers match up vs the Avalanche last night after being crunched in the head by a Nathan MacKinnon fly by through the crease. Ingram has been the steadier hand in goal for Edmonton, beating out Tristan Jarry for a few extra starts. Coming over to Edmonton essentially for free after a stint in the player assistance program has looked like a great call for Stan Bowman and the franchise. Ingram is the owner of only an 0.891 SV%, but still holds a 9-6-1 record playing behind one of the leakiest defensive teams in the league for the bulk of his games. The Oilers have made a few moves for defensive minded players in Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy, and have recently beat Carolina and Colorado since.
Robert Thomas / St. Louis Blues – Thomas has an upper-body injury that head coach Jim Montgomery believes the center can play through, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports. Surprising to me that a player who was asking for a trade out of St. Louis is willing to play injured for them in a very nearly lost season already. I guess the draw is to improve on your season in order to get an off season move for yourself easier. Thomas is currently in year three of an eight year 8.125 million dollar contract and is well below his pace of 95 points in 82 games of last season, with just a 73 point pace this year.
Cole Caufield / Montreal Canadiens – Caufield (illness) is a game time decision for tonight’s match up in Ottawa after only playing 10 minutes last night against the Leafs. He’s had a bit of the itis this week and if he does play, it’s certainly possible that he has a limited role if he’s not up to it.
Quarantine
N/A
Thanks again for reading, and please give me a follow, you can find me here on Twitter/X @LOGoalz for any questions, concerns, or abuse you may want to shower me with. Have a great week people!