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.

Shea Weber - Montreal Canadiens - Defence

Injury: face, day-to-day.

All Montreal Canadiens fans want for 2019 is a healthy Shea Weber. The Habs captain left last night’s game against the Wild in the first period after getting struck in the cheek by a puck.The good news is head coach Claude Julien has confirmed that Weber will make the trip to Detroit. He wouldn’t confirm if he would play, but just traveling with the team is a good start. We should have an update on his status for tonight’s game after practice.

Mackenzie Blackwood -New Jersey Devils - Goalie

Injury: lower-body, day-to-day.

The best goalie in the Devil’s organization has missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury and we still have no idea when he might return. The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, but the team hasn’t come to say when they expect Blackwood to make a return to the lineup. Fantasy owners will want to hold on to the New Jersey netminder for a little longer before having to make the decision to drop him or not. The rookie has been a nice surprise for the Devils this season, posting a 1.83 GAA and a .947 SV%.

Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets - Winger

Injury: shoulder, four weeks.

Huge blow here for the Winnipeg Jets. Ehlers suffered a shoulder injury in his previous game and is expected to be out a until February. That gives us a timetable of a minimum of four weeks. The 22-year-old is a lock on the team’s second line, but now the Jets will have to turn to someone else to fill the void. Fantasy owners might not want to drop Ehlers right away, but if his timetable for his return doesn’t get better, decisions will have to be made. The Danish forward has collected 27 points in 40 games this season.

Jack Eichel - Buffalo Sabres - Center

Injury: upper-body, day-to-day.

The expectation is that Jack Eichel will be back soon, but the team refuses to give out any information on when that might be. He was seen at practice on Monday, but he wasn’t taking line rushes with his usual linemates. He’s already missed a couple of games due to his upper-body injury and the team has no intention on placing him on IR. The Sabres are in action tonight, so we should get an update on the captain’s status for tonight’s game.

Elias Pettersson - Vancouver Canucks - Winger

Injury: knee, three weeks.

Another tough blow for the Vancouver Canucks, this time losing their best player due to a MCL sprain. The rookie got tangled up with Montreal forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi and landed awkwardly on his knee. Thankfully, it turned out to be just a sprain, which should only keep the talented forward out till the end on January. The Canucks are going to take extra caution with their 20-year-old superstart and make sure he is 100% when he returns. For fantasy owners, there’s really nothing to do. You can’t replace a player like Pettersson or his production. He’s a heavy favourite to win Rookie of the Year, and even if he misses some time again due to injury, that shouldn’t hurt his chances.

Garret Sparks - Toronto Maple Leafs - Goalie

Injury: concussion, no timetable.

The Leafs are already down their starting goalie Frederik Andersen and now they are having to deal with the loss of Garret Sparks due to a concussion. He’s already missed six games while going through the league’s concussion protocol and we still have no idea when he might return. Michael Hutchinson was acquired from Florida earlier last week and has played decent over the last few games, but the Leafs need one of their two injured goalies to get healthy, and fast. For fantasy owners, as long as Andersen is out of the lineup, Sparks is going to see the bulk of the action. If you need to free up a roster spot, Sparks can be dropped.