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.
Oscar Klefbom - Edmonton Oilers - Defence
Injury: groin, day-to-day.
It’s been a season to forget for defenceman Oscar Klefbom. The 25-year-old suffered a groin injury in his last game and his status for Wednesday’s game against New Jersey is still up in the air. Klefbom has only played 48 games this season, and if this latest injury is a serious one, the Oilers may just elect to shut him down for the rest of the season. Edmonton is a better team with him in the lineup, and they still have an outside shot at making the playoffs, but the reality is-- there’s no reason to risk playing Klefbom at less than 100%. Fantasy owners can probably go ahead and drop him.
Vladimir Tarasenko - St. Louis Blues - Winger
Injury: upper-body, ten days.
This is a huge loss for the St. Louis Blues and for fantasy owners. The Russian winger is expected to be reevaluated in ten days, which means he could be out much longer than that anyone expects. The team hasn’t given an update on his condition, but the Blues are playing it safe by giving their talented winger the next ten days off. For fantasy owners, this loss is huge. Fantasy playoffs are starting and Tarasenko makes any team that much better. It’s too early to drop him, so owners will need to wait the ten days out and make a decision from there. Let’s hope that he’s ready to return sooner rather than later.
Gabriel Landeskog - Colorado Avalanche - Winger
Injury: upper-body, four-to-six weeks.
Gabriel Landeskog’s fantasy hockey season has come to an end. The 26-year-old suffered an upper-body injury late last week and he is expected to miss four-to-six weeks. Should the Colorado Avalanche make the playoffs, he would be able to make a return, but by then, fantasy hockey will be over and done with. It’s a tough blow considering just how good Landeskog was playing before the injury. Fantasy owners can go ahead and drop him and look for pieces on the waiver wire to help soften the blow.
Dylan Larkin - Detroit Red Wings - Center
Injury: neck, day-to-day.
It’s been just about a week since Larkin was sidelined with a neck injury and we still have no idea when he will return to the lineup. The Detroit centerman wasn’t expected to be out long, but it looks like the Red Wings might want to play this safe. For fantasy owners, this continues to be a wait-and-see approach. If Larkin can return this week, that would be the best case scenario. Should he continue to be out of the lineup past Sunday, decisions will need to be made. For now, it’s best to hold onto him and hope that the team updates his status over the next couple of days.
Jake DeBrusk - Boston Bruins - Winger
Injury: lower-body, week-to-week.
Jake DeBrusk has now missed the last four games, but we still have no update on when he might be ready to return. The upper-body injury that he suffered didn’t seem serious, but he was out of the lineup again on Tuesday against the Blue Jackets and it doesn’t look like he is close to returning. The team hasn’t put him on IR, so this makes the situation quite complicated for fantasy owners. DeBrusk isn’t a player you must keep on your team, so if you can’t hold onto him for the remainder of the week, he can be dropped. Let’s hope we get an update on his status over the next couple of days.