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\u2019d like to thank every single one of you for reading. Now, on to the bad (and some good) news.<\/p>\n
Injuries \/ Leaves<\/p>\n
Mikko Rantanen<\/a> \/ Dallas Stars \u2013 General manager Jim Nill said Sunday that Rantanen (lower body) will be a full-time participant in practice going forward and will travel with the team for its upcoming four-game road trip, Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine reports. Dallas will start this road trip on Thursday in Long Island. The Stars could certainly use his presence, having lost four of their last five contests. Dallas is comfortably sitting in second in the Pacific, so it\u2019s not like they\u2019re in much danger of missing the playoffs unless they pretty much lose their last 11 games. With 64 points in 54 games this year, Rantanen has been right at the top of his prior performance ceiling to date in his career. He\u2019s even rewarded his owners with 1.61 PIM\/GP this year, dwarfing any of his previous season\u2019s rates. Add on 0.56 PPP\/GP and it\u2019s been a very productive 2025-26 minus the games lost to injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam Reinhart<\/a> \/ Florida Panthers \u2013 Reinhart (foot) was absent from the Panthers 5-4 shootout win against the Kraken on Tuesday, following what seems like half of their roster to the press box. Almost every single rate stat for Reinhart is down slightly this season. It makes sense when you factor in who the Panthers roster has been missing for the majority of their season, having played so many games in the last two years finally catching up to lots of them. This is also seen in Reinhart ice time, having been elevated almost a full minute on average this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anton Lundell<\/a> \/ Florida Panthers \u2013 Lundell (ribs)\u00a0 is at risk of missing the rest of the season, as his 2-6 week timeline doesn\u2019t allow for much of a return in the remaining three weeks of regular season play. Lundell currently sits at 44 points, one behind his career high set last year in 15 fewer games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Evgeni Malkin<\/a> \/ Pittsburgh Penguins \u2013 Malkin (upper body) will miss Thursday\u2019s game in Ottawa, per Michelle Crechiolo of the Penguins\u2019 official site. Malkin has only played in four of the Pen\u2019s last 10 games. Having been handed a five game suspension after giving a quite ridiculous hack to the upper body of an opponent and now getting injured, Karma may have worked its way into his best season in four years. He still managed five points in the four games after returning from his behavioral time out, and will look to keep up or better that streak when he does manage to return. Tommy Novak<\/a> has been bumped up into the second line center spot with Malkin in the infirmary, but I wouldn\u2019t expect close to the same production.\u00a0<\/p>\n Victor Hedman<\/a> \/ Tampa Bay Lightning \u2013 Hedman (personal) is taking a temporary leave of absence, the Lightning announced Wednesday. We haven\u2019t received any additional info on the situation, with the team asking for Victor\u2019s privacy to be upheld. Hedman has only been present for 33 of the Lightning\u2019s games so far this season, and he\u2019s fallen off quite the cliff points wise when he is in the lineup. With just a 0.52 PTS\/GP pace, he hasn\u2019t seen that type of slow roll since his first four seasons in the NHL at a very young age. This coincides with something else, and that something else is no secret anymore. It\u2019s name is Darren Raddysh<\/a>. One of the best stories in the NHL this season, Raddysh has undeniably been the Bolts’ best and most productive defenseman. He will be getting the proverbial “bag” this offseason. His cap league owners will be watching intently.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthony Mantha<\/a> \/ Pittsburgh Penguins \u2013 Mantha (lower body) was not on the ice for practice today, and the team has labeled him as day to day for now. Mantha missed the majority of last season with an ACL injury, needing surgery to recover from it. Mantha, having never played a full season, has managed to have one of his most productive years to date. Only the shortened 2019-20 season saw him post a better point pace, and who knows what would have happened if the last 39 games were played. 6’5 240 LB Mantha has managed to raise his shot rates to almost 2.0 a game, although his hits and blocks have dropped a good amount at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthony DeAngelo<\/a> \/ New York Islanders \u2013 DeAngelo (lower body) won\u2019t return to Tuesday\u2019s game versus the Blackhawks. DeAngelo, the subject of much debate in NHL circles due to his controversial personality, has never quite lived up to his potential after blowing up on the scene in New York for 53 points in 68 games played back in 2019-20. With only a 36 point pace this season, it may be difficult for Anthony to find himself a contract back in the league next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Quarantine<\/p>\n N\/A<\/p>\n Thanks again for reading, and please give me a follow, you can find me here on Twitter<\/a>\/X @LOGoalz<\/a> for any questions, concerns, or abuse you may want to shower me with. Have a great week people!<\/p>\n