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.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Arizona Coyotes - Defence

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

Coyotes’ captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Tuesday’s game due to a lower-body injury and did not return. The team hasn’t given an update on his status, but it looks like he won’t be out for too long. This is good news for fantasy owners, seeing as OEL isn’t an easy player to replace. In 48 games this season, the 27-year-old has collected 26 points (6G, 20A). We should get an update on his status over the next couple of days.

Jake Gardiner - Toronto Maple Leafs - Defence

Injury: back, day-to-day.

Leafs’ defenceman Jake Gardiner was held out of Toronto’s last game due to back spasms and he is questionable to play on Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals. For Gardiner, a few days off could do him some good. He’s been the target of a ton of criticism over the last couple of weeks due to poor play. The 28-year-old hasn’t had a problem collecting points (24 points in 47 games), but his defensive game at times has not been good. The Leafs may elect to keep Gardiner out of the lineup till after the All-Star break, so fantasy owners may want to look for a back-up plan should that be the case.

Tuukka Rask - Boston Bruins - Goalie

Injury: concussion, out indefinitely.

Goalie Tukka Rask suffered a concussion against the Rangers and there is no timetable for his return. The veteran goalie has put together a very solid season, posting a 2.43 GAA and a .919 SV% in 26 games. In the meantime, Jaroslav Halak will take over the starting goalie duties. For Rask owners, this is another huge blow. He missed some time earlier this season due to injury, and now with a concussion, he may be gone for multiple weeks. If for some reason Halak is still available on the waiver wire, Rask owners may want to jump all over that.

Erik Karlsson - San Jose Sharks - Defence

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

Erik Karlsson suffered a mysterious lower-body injury late last week and it looks like we won’t see the allstar defenceman back before the beginning of February. That give fantasy owners a week-to-week timetable. Karlsson was having himself a terrific month of January before suffering his injury. In 47 games, the 28-year-old has collected three goals and 40 assists. It’s not going to be possible to replace Karlsson’s offensive production via the waiver wire, so fantasy owners are just going to have to hope that the All-Star defenceman is ready to go come February.

David Perron - St. Louis Blues - Winger

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

David Perron has now missed the last three games for his team due to an upper-body injury and there is no indication that he will be ready to go for Wednesday’s game against Anaheim. The veteran forward, now in his third stint with the Blues, has been fantasy relevant since the beginning of the season, collecting 35 points (17G, 18A) in 45 games. Perron is probably getting close to a return, but the team might want to play it safe and give him the extra time over the break to rest. For fantasy owners, this means another week of uncertainty. At this point, it’s best to look for a short-term solution on the waiver wire. We should get an update on his status coming out of the All-Star break.