This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Tyler Seguin was taken out on a low hit by Dmitry Kulikov of the Florida Panthers in their contest Friday night and according to the Stars he could miss the next 3-6 weeks with a lower body injury. The fallout for the Stars and fantasy owners is tough.
Seguin was having the best season of his career for a Stars team that was performing below expectations. His 59 points in 50 games ranked third in the NHL and for the second season in a row he had formed a deadly duo with Jamie Benn (19th in the league with 50 points). Lately, the Stars had gotten as close as three points behind the second wild card spot and were playing better, which makes the timing of Seguin's injury potentially devastating. General Manager Jim Nill will have to decide if they are close enough (and good enough) to go looking for a replacement on the trade market, or if he should play it closer to the vest and sit tight while playing for next year.
For fantasy owners, there really isn't any solace. You can't really replace a superstar like Seguin's production and playing waiver wire roulette isn't a lot of fun. You will need to make the same calculus as the Stars – are you a real contender or just a pretender in your league? Should you ditch future assets for a short-term fix? If you're a Benn owner, should you be worried that his production will tail off without his running mate, or will he lineup and mesh with a guy like Jason Spezza?
Check out the Daily Puck today and in the coming days, as well as Jan Levine's NHL Barometer for the guys who are moving up and could patch your lineup while you wait for Seguin to return.
Now, onto the preview of Sunday's games.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Chicago Blackhawks (Corey Crawford*), 12:30 PM
St. Louis Blues (Brian Elliott*) at Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 5:00 PM
Philadelphia Flyers (Ray Emery) at Buffalo Sabres (Michal Neuvirth), 7:30 PM
Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Anaheim Ducks (John Gibson), 8:00 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop) at San Jose Sharks (Antti Niemi), 8:00 PM
*Confirmed Starters
Injury News For Teams Playing Wednesday
Pittsburgh Penguins
Christian Ehrhoff, D - Ehrhoff (concussion) practiced in a limited fashion Saturday, Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. (2/14/2015)
Steve Downie, RW - Downie (undisclosed) was a late scratch for Thursday's game against the Senators, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. (2/12/2015)
Chicago Blackhawks
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D - Van Riemsdyk (knee) is still limited to light skating, ESPN Chicago reports. (2/12/2015)
Tim Erixon, D - Erixon (lower body) was present for Saturday's practice, ESPN Chicago reports. (2/14/2015)
Michal Rozsival, D - Rozsival (shoulder) skated during Saturday's practice, ESPN Chicago reports. (2/14/2015)
St. Louis Blues
Chris Porter, LW - Porter (ankle) is travelling with the team on their current road trip, reports Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (2/14/2015)
Florida Panthers
Dmitry Kulikov, D - Kulikov was suspended indefinitely Saturday for his hit on forward Tyler Seguin in Friday's loss to the Stars, Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. (2/14/2015)
Brandon Pirri, C - Pirri (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Saturday, retroactive to Feb. 10, Jameson C. Olive of FOX Sports Florida reports. (2/14/2015)
Willie Mitchell, D - Mitchell (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Saturday, retroactive to Feb. 3, Jameson C. Olive of FOX Sports Florida reports. (2/14/2015)
Philadelphia Flyers
Braydon Coburn, D - Coburn (foot) is unlikely to return for Friday's game in Columbus, but he could be back for Sunday's game in Buffalo, Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (2/12/2015)
Rob Zepp, G - Zepp (leg) has resumed practicing with AHL Lehigh Valley, Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (2/12/2015)
Kimmo Timonen, D - Timonen (blood clots) will begin practicing with the Flyers on Tuesday, Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News reports. (2/12/2015)
Andrew MacDonald, D - McDonald will not play Friday due to the death of his grandmother. (2/13/2015)
Steve Mason, G - General manager Ron Hextall said Friday that Mason (knee) could resume skating late next week, Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (2/14/2015)
Michael Raffl, LW - Raffl (illness) participated in Thursday's practice, Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News reports. (2/12/2015)
Shayne Gostisbehere, D - Gostisbehere (knee) is on track to play either near the end of February or in early March, per Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. (2/12/2015)
Buffalo Sabres
Mikhail Grigorenko, C - Grigorenko (lower body) is ready to start skating, reports Rob Sanderson of FOX Sports 1280. (2/10/2015)
Josh Gorges, D - Gorges missed Saturday's morning skate for maintenance purposes, Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald reports. (2/14/2015)
Chris Stewart, RW - Stewart missed Saturday's practice with the flu, the Olean Times Herald reports. (2/14/2015)
Washington Capitals
No news
Anaheim Ducks
Frederik Andersen, G - Andersen (upper body) was placed on injured reserve by the Ducks on Tuesday. (2/10/2015)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Matt Carle, D - Carle got on the ice and did some skating on his own after Tampa Bay's practice on Saturday, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports. (2/14/2015)
Cedric Paquette, C - Paquette (upper body) skated without a red no-contact jersey at practice on Saturday, and will more than likely be ready to return to Tampa Bay's lineup on Sunday against the Sharks, NHL.com's Bryan Burns reports. (2/14/2015)
Michael Blunden, RW - Blunden is expected to require season-ending knee surgery, Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune reports. (2/4/2015)
San Jose Sharks
Justin Braun, D - Braun (upper body) is hoping to return to action for the Stadium Series game against the Kings set for Feb. 21, CSN Bay Area reports. (2/14/2015)
Tye McGinn, LW - McGinn (undisclosed) was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. (2/3/2015)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D - Vlasic (upper body) is considered "a possibility" to play Sunday against the Lightning, CSN Bay Area reports. (2/14/2015)
Daniil Tarasov, RW - The Sharks have placed Tarasov (unspecified injury) on IR. (2/9/2015)
Raffi Torres, LW - Torres (knee) appears increasingly unlikely to play this season, Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports. (2/13/2015)
Hot
Radim Vrbata, RW – Vrbata might be the poster child for what can happen when you move a good player to a situation where he gets better teammates. While he was a solid 20-goal threat in the desert with Arizona for the last few years, landing in Vancouver seems to have perked up the veteran winger. He has 40 points in 51 games this season and finds himself in the midst of an eight game point streak during which he has three goals and six assists, a plus-6 rating, and 30 shots. While he is not riding shotgun with the Sedins anymore it doesn't seem to be slowing him down much.
Kevin Hayes, RW – Hayes was probably best known as "the prospect who spurned the Blackhawks," but recently his play is making news. Since the former Hobey Baker award winner saw less than 10 minutes of ice time in two out of three games in late January he has been on fire. He has put up eight points in his last seven games, with three of those coming on the power play, and a plus-4 rating while throwing 17 shots on net. (He added a shorthanded goal on Saturday.) Hayes is also seeing the ice more often averaging 14:51 compared to his season average of 12:23 and he is on the ice with the man advantage more too – 1:42 in this seven game stretch; more than a minute more than he has averaged on the season. Be mindful that Hayes is still doing this from the third line, but he is earning his minutes now.
Cold
David Krejci, C – It has been a tough season in Boston and Krejci is a prime example. Krejci missed most of six weeks from November 1 through mid-December, which translates to just 35 games played and although his season numbers aren't bad, he has not produced as expected lately. Krecji has just two points and a minus-4 rating in his last six games with no points on the power play. The silver lining is that he seems to be healthy, so he should get back on track, but a fraustrating season for Bruins' fans is shared by Krejci's fantasy owners.
Patrick Sharp, LW – Sharp has been ice cold since recording a four point night on January 30, picking up just a lone assist and a minus-6 rating in his last seven games. He missed a month earlier this season with a leg injury and he has managed just 16 shots in this down stretch (a total boosted by a seven shot effort), which is well below his season rate, so it's possible he is a bit fatigued right now.
Recommended Pickup
John Gibson, G – Anaheim's starting goalie, Frederick Andersen, has hit the IR list, which will give Gibson another chance to start for the Ducks. He has been outstanding at both the NHL and AHL level recording a 2.36 goals against and .927 save percentage with the big club and a 2.08 goals against and .935 save percentage in the minors. He was brilliant Thursday in a win over Carolina and despite the presence of Ilya Bryzgalov on the roster, expect Gibson to make the bulk of start until Andersen is ready again. He is a top prospect in keeper and dynasty leagues, but will also make an impact in re-draft leagues while he is with the Ducks.
