Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everyone. Welcome back to the Injury Ward. My name is Logan Clarkson and every Wednesday and Sunday I will be chauffeuring 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. As always, I’d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.
Jordan Kyrou / St. Louis Blues – Kyrou (lower body) left and did not return to Saturday’s game against Ottawa. Kyrou left the game after just 2:52 of play after a collision along the boards with Stephen Halliday and needed help to the dressing room from trainers. Kyrou has only been on a 47-point pace so far this season, which is in line with the struggling Blues’ play. After the game, coach Jim Montgomery said he considers Kyrou day-to-day, but Kyrou will still need an MRI. With trade rumors swirling around a lot of the roster so far this year, it’s not a comfortable situation for anyone. Jordan has only missed three games over the last three seasons.
Logan Cooley / Utah Mammoth – Cooley (lower body) was a late scratch for Saturday’s clash in Calgary. Cooley went hard into the net Friday night against the Canucks later on in the game. He finished out, but was held out on Saturday and is going to be evaluated once the Mammoth are back home in Utah after finishing their road trip on Saturday. The Mammoth are a prime waiver squad for next week’s fantasy matchups, having four games all coming on off days and three of the four at home. That’s about as good as you can get for streamers.
Nikita Kucherov / Tampa Bay Lightning – Kucherov (undisclosed) is still day-to-day and did not play against the Islanders on Saturday. Tampa Bay has lost three in a row now with lots of their soldiers on the injured list. Kucherov is self-explanatory as to his value in fantasy, and he has backed it up with 34 points in 35 games so far including 20 in his last 11 games played.
Andrei Vasilevskiy / Tampa Bay Lightning – Vasilevskiy missed his second straight game Saturday with an undisclosed injury. Jonas Johansson has filled in for Andrei since he’s been out and he’s done just okay with the extra time guarding the frame. With five wins in 10 games played and 70 percent quality starts, you’d think he might have fared better than just an .896 save percentage.
Elias Pettersson / Vancouver Canucks – Pettersson (upper body) did not play Saturday versus the Wild, originally reported by Dan Murphy of Sportsnet reports. Head coach Adam Foote said after the game that Elias will be heading in for an MRI on Sunday, which is not great news if that’s warranted. Have to think he’ll be out for at least a week with that tidbit coming to light.
Ryan Leonard / Washington Capitals – Leonard (upper body) has been ruled out of Sunday’s tilt against Columbus, as per Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post reports. Johnson is also reporting that coach Spencer Carbery said that Leonard will miss “an extended period of time.”
Leonard had his coming out game on Wednesday against San Jose. He managed to put up two goals and two assists in just 13:39 of ice time. He also chipped in six shots and two hits in the game. Unfortunately he was injured in the next game on Friday against Anaheim after taking a blindside hit from Jacob Trouba, who refused to fight Tom Wilson after to the surprise of no one. I managed to drop Beckett Sennecke for Leonard before the game and lost out on a total of six points from the pair this week, since I decided on Sennecke over Leonard in the first place preemptively on Sunday night. You lose some, you lose some.
Joseph Woll / Toronto Maple Leafs – Woll (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Saturday, retroactive to December 4. Tough break for Joseph who had pretty much just returned from a lengthy absence for personal reasons.
Dennis Hildeby is being relied upon once again and has been great while doing so. He’s only been rewarded with one win in 8 games played, but the majority of those were in relief. He has a .927 SV% and a 1-2-2 record, which reflects more on the poor first quarter of the season from the Maple Leafs skaters as a whole. He’s a great waiver target if you’re in need of some starts. Toronto only plays three games next week, but they don’t have any back-to-backs, so it’s possible he starts all three.
Thatcher Demko / Vancouver Canucks – Demko (lower body) might be available to play at home against Buffalo on December 11, per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 on Thursday. Demko has been on and off the injured list for the last three seasons. I can’t bring myself to trust him regardless of how well he’s playing, or his status at number one when he is.
Carter Hart / Vegas Golden Knights – Hart (lower body) didn’t suit up Friday versus the Devils and is considered day-to-day, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. There was some speculation that Hart had been hidden away by the team so he did not have to face the media in New Jersey, and it may have some merit considering he finished overtime and a shootout before immediately being classed as day to day after the game.
Hart won his first start against the Blackhawks on Tuesday with a .900 save percentage, downing Chicago 4-3 in the shootout. At the moment, he’s splitting starts with Akira Schmid, whose last start ended up in a shutout for him. Adin Hill will eventually be back in the mix when he’s healthy too, but chances are Schmid takes the hit and goes down to the AHL considering they just signed Hart.
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!