Fantasy Hockey Injury News: Gabriel Landeskog Update, Roope Hintz Returns, and More

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you all wore green, much like the Toronto Maple Leafs who wore their retro St. Pats jerseys in their March 17 game against the Calgary Flames.

Today, I have some more injury updates, including updates on a huge star making progress, a returning player, and two players who are still out due to various undisclosed injuries.

The key note today is some huge news regarding a returning captain who has not played since 2022. Stay tuned for this one!

Let's dive in, shall we?

A Mountain of Setbacks

Captain of the Colorado Avalanche, Gabriel Landeskog, may finally have some light at the end of the tunnel. For those of you who forget, or who haven't watched the Amazon Prime series, "Faceoff: Inside the NHL," Colorado does have a captain, he just hasn't played since 2022.

Sadly, Landy's last NHL game played was winning the Stanley Cup with his team in 2022. He has been plagued with injuries since, having four knee surgeries, including a cartilage transplant in 2023.

On March 17, it was announced that Landy has not only started to practice with the squad again, but is traveling on their next road trip and plans to return to the ice prior to the end of this season. This is encouraging news for the already stacked Avalanche, but for keen dynasty fantasy players, too. Worth a pickup and IR stash until he returns, the ceiling of this move would be sky high, while the floor is next to zero risk.

Ladeskog is an impact player, with elite scoring and vision. He is also a leader on the ice and in the locker room. If you think the players and the organization have forgotten about him or don't hold him to a high regard, let's remember that he has not played in three years. Despite having Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar on the team, the Avalanche have not moved the captaincy to either of them, even temporarily, during Landy's lengthy absence. If that doesn't speak volumes about him, I don't know what does.

In his last healthy season (which was in 2021-22), Landy had 30 goals, 29 assists, and 15 powerplay points as a forward in only 59 games played. He also had a notable +/- rating of +27. In the postseason, he put up impressive numbers too, tallying another 11 goals, 11 assists, and +15 in only 20 games played. Again, he was the captain of the Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup that year.

Star Returns to the Stars

Roope Hintz of the Dallas Stars has returned from a face injury where he took a puck to the face on March 8 against the Edmonton Oilers. Luckily he did not fracture any bones, he was still sidelined for 10 days and returned on March 16 against the Avalanche where he notched an apple in his first game back.

The Stacked Stars were happy to have Hintz back in their already bolstered lineup where they fell to the Avalanche, but took them to overtime. A great test for both teams, as both are considered favorites to win the Stanley Cup this year. The Stars still have forward Tyler Seguin and defenseman Miro Heiskanen out with injuries, so despite a strong showing against their rivals, they are not yet at full strength. 

Hintz is a key piece to their lineup, and is down the middle on their top line between Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen, and also sees significant time on the top powerplay unit. Hintz owners can breathe a sigh of relief, as missing time is always unpredictable when taking a puck to the face and being forced to leave the game. 

Hintz has 25 goals, 28 assists, and 15 powerplay points as a forward in 60 games played. He also has 132 shots on goal, 36 hits, and 39 blocked shots.

Concerned Canes

Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes is still out, and while only being listed as day-to-day, the team only just disclosed that his injury is upper body and they only hope to have him back this week. Unfortunate for owners, as you are still unable to shift him to your IR due to his day-to-day status.

Thursday might be an option, but having missed a couple games already and foggy information released by the team, I would not be taking what is public as concrete as of yet. Keep an eye for him to either return, or be switched to out status on Thursday at some point and make lineup adjustments or a waiver wire pickup as necessary.

After a controversial trade deadline in trading for, then trading Rantanen without filling the hole of Martin Necas in the end, they can't really afford to be missing key pieces out of their lineup without it hurting the overall lineup.

Svechnikov has 18 goals, 25 assists, and 17 powerplay points as a forward in 63 games played. He also has 167 shots on goal, 131 hits, and 16 blocked shots.

New Sabre

Trade deadline acquisition Josh Norris of the now Buffalo Sabres has missed a second consecutive game on March 17 against the Boston Bruins, and his injury is still undisclosed by the team.

Norris has put up a goal and an assist since coming over from the Ottawa Senators and is going to be a key piece for the Sabres moving forward, but given that Buffalo is last in the Atlantic Division, it is not super concerning for them to be missing pieces of Norris' caliber.

It is unfortunate for owners who picked him up cheap or off of the waiver wire though, but at least the team has put him on out status so you can likely move him to your IR stash.

This season, Norris has 21 goals, 14 assists, and 11 powerplay points as a forward in 56 games played. He also has 96 shots on goal, 135 hits, and 47 blocked shots.