Fantasy Hockey Injury Updates: Brady Tkachuk, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and More, Plus Clayton Keller Tragedy

Hey folks, today we have injury updates for you. Some up, some down, and some tragic news for a captain.

Injuries this season have been wild and are playing a huge role in how this is shaping teams in the NHL, as well as your fantasy squad. The waiver wire has never been more busy, and we've never seen so much star power sidelined. It's no wonder this season is from the upside down and has been near impossible to predict.

From Ducks on top to the Maple Leafs out of the playoffs, this season's strategy has been about rising stars, acting quickly on trends, and long-term projections.

Let's take a look around the league and break down the most recent injury reports!

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Brady Tkachuk - Ottawa Senators

The Senators are getting reinforcements in a big bad way. Tkachuk returned for just his fourth game of the season and notched an assist last night against the St. Louis Blues.

Tkachuk returned to a middle six role, likely to help condition him back to form. He is not only the captain but also the heart and soul of this team, and he drives both physical play and offensive production. His return is just what the struggling Senators needed. 

The Senators haven't really been a threat all season, and Tkachuk is going to hit everything that moves and remind the league that this is his team, and they are here to compete!

Tkachuk has zero goals, four assists, and one powerplay point in four games played as a forward. He also has 18 shots on goal, 13 hits, and zero blocked shots.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Edmonton Oilers

Speaking of needing help, nobody is in more desperate need of a spark than the Oilers. While Zach Hyman's return did not give the team the jump it needed, they also haven't had a full forward core all season, and with both Nuge and Curtis Lazar returning to the lineup for Saturday night's “Hockey Night in Canada” bout against the Seattle Kraken, maybe this will be a stride in the right direction.

Nuge is a huge piece to their offensive production and plays up and down the lineup as a point-producing veteran who is a leader in the locker room. While the Oiler's aren't fully healthy, still without defenseman Jake Walman and forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Jack Roslovic, this is the closest they have been to healthy this year.

Look for Nuge to drive the top powerplay unit and everyone around him to have a little bit more breathing room. This return will be good for both Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman's special teams pressure.

Nugent-Hopkins has five goals, 11 assists, and nine powerplay points in 16 games played as a forward. He also has 23 shots on goal, seven hits, and four blocked shots.

Lukas Dostal - Anaheim Ducks

Goaltender Petr Mrazek is going to have to carry a heavy workload going forward, being backed up by Ville Husso.

Dostal is listed as out for two weeks with an upper body injury, after starting the best season of his career with an unexpectedly successful team in front of him. Nobody expected the Ducks to hit the pond like they have this season, having one of the strongest defensive cores in the league as well as some of the unexpected top scorers. Their rebuild (if not a season fluke - which it doesn't look like it is) has accelerated beyond anyone's projections and they are looking like an actual contender sitting atop the Pacific division.

The backstopping Dostal has been pivotal to this season's success, and we are now going to see what this team can handle without the security in their blue paint.

Special note to former New York Rangers' captain Jacob Trouba, who is a plus defenseman at +14 and has been a tremendous help to Dostal so far this season. Trouba has really found his form again in California, and the Ducks seem to have won this deal.

Dostal has 11 wins in 17 starts as a goaltender. He also has a .904 save percentage, 2.81 goals against average, and zero shutouts.

Andre Burakovsky - Chicago Blackhawks

Another team overperforming season expectations, the Blackhawks have been dynamite all season with franchise forward Connor Bedard leading the way. Burakovsky has been stapled to him all season and is reaping the benefit of playing alongside a hungry kid out to prove last year's doubters wrong (and is!).

Burakovsky left the game against the Seattle Kraken and missed three full games before returning last night against the Nashville Predators, and to nobody's surprise, her added an assist to the scoreboard upon returning.

While Burakovsky did return to the top line with Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi, he was bumped down to the second powerplay unit. I would not panic here, as this may be a conditioning move, also keeping in mind that the Blackhawks are playing with seven defenseman and short one forward. Nick Foligno still remains sidelined.

Burakovsky has seven goals, nine assists, and five powerplay points in 19 games played as a forward. He also has 28 shots on goal, six hits, and eight blocked shots.

Clayton Keller - Utah Mammoth

No injury news here, but worth noting that the Mammoth announced the passing of Keller's father. Keller chose to play with the team against the Dallas Stars just a day after his passing, and noted that he wanted to play and be with the team, despite an emotional 24 hours.

They suit up again tonight against the St. Louis Blues, and it's been reported by several media outlets that the team is rallying around their captain during this difficult time. Keller and his family are from the St. Louis area, so there is no doubt there will be family and friends in the arena watching and coming together for Keller, who will undoubtedly be playing not just for the team, but for his late father.

Keller has eight goals, 13 assists, and seven powerplay points in 25 games played as a forward. He also has 73 shots on goal, five hits, and 11 blocked shots.