A Guide to the Injury Prone 2016

It's that time again! Time to go over the injury prone list, something that should help your drafting process a little bit, because every little bit counts.

The annual additions to the list are a combination of reputation and a brief look at the numbers, where I usually like to try and add about 10 players to the list, but that doesn't happen to always be the case, like this season, where I am only adding seven.  You can never be too safe with your drafting list, as there usually is a correlation between the number of games played by your players and where you will finish in the standings, unless you're a riverboat gambler, taking nothing but really dark horses.  Then there is nothing I can do for you.

Of course, I'm not saying that you should avoid these players completely, but rather I would exercise a little bit of caution when ranking these guys.  Usually, when I do my annual projections, I am trying to consider those top players as healthy for the entire year, knowing full well that every player playing every game is an impossibility.  That's why some of those depth players will get a small projection, as they are the ones expected to fill in at some point in the year.

And after we add our new players to the list, we'll do a quick recap over the players who have been previously added, see how they have managed through the season previous.  I like to stand by my selections, even if I'm wrong.

I really hate to paint a player as injury prone too early in his career, but Aleksander Barkov of the Panthers has played in three seasons, now entering a 6-year contract extension, but he has yet to play a full season and he has suffered eight injuries, landing on the Injured Reserve with five of those injuries.  The 20-year old Finn is an offensive dynamo and he is improving year after year, not to mention the team around him continues to grow and become better.  He will be an attractive player in any draft, but I can't help but wonder about whether or not he will be able to play an 82-game season.

A poor 2015 season saw him drop in the draft, all the way down to the 8th round, 207th overall, but his talent, despite some injuries, lifted him up to 62nd overall in overall scoring.  28 goals and 59 points in 66 games was a huge turnaround, but if you're going to project him at that scoring pace, be sure you take into account his injury prone nature.

There isn't a long history of injury for Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, but three spells on the Injured Reserve, due to a groin problem, is more than enough for me to add the talented Russian backstop to the list. This hockey pool has been synonymous with starting goalies being blue chip pieces to a team, so one should take extra care around them and Bobrovsky's groin has given more cause for concern than a calming sensation.  With Columbus starting to put things together in their franchise, their number one goalie will be a high priority pick, but take heed of these warnings.

"Bob" was a bust pick in last season's pool, thanks to his groin problems, as he was taken with the 13th overall pick and he pretty well sunk his pool team's season with his injury problems.  I don't think you can argue that he has the talent of a 1st round pick, but his 257th overall finish in 2016 might take his stock down a bit.

In his current state, unrestricted free agent forward Brandon Pirri is one of those guys that should have realized some of his potential, but has failed to do so, despite a number of chances with a few different teams in his relatively short NHL career.  Last season between Florida and Anaheim, an ankle injury cost him 13 games and an upper-body injury cost him his participation in the last few regular season games and the playoffs with the Ducks and he may not move from the free agent market, unless it is a minor-league deal to get his game back.

Last season, Pirri's value wasn't all that high at the draft, taken in the 13th round, and it actually paid off a little bit, as he finished above his draft ranking, almost 60 spots better, in fact.  Nevertheless, his upside was supposed to be much higher, coming out of the Blackhawks' system and into better ice-time situations.  Will be interesting to see where he lands, but don't be too keen on picking him in the draft.

Nick Bonino turned out to be a key piece of the Penguins' Stanley Cup run, which is all well and good, but his regular season record has more than its fair share of little knocks and time spent on the Injured Reserve, something us poolies find hard to ignore.  Last season, Bonino missed 19 games in total and 17 of those games were missed to a hand injury and that time was spent on the IR.  The previous season in Vancouver, he spent seven games on the shelf with a foot injury and he missed a smattering of games in his time in Anaheim, including a 21-game stretch in 2013, thanks to a lower-body injury.

In last year's pool, Bonino was one of those few players taken in the correct round, drafted 297th overall in the 11th round and finished 292nd in pool rankings.  It's hard not to look at his playoff success with Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel, as the three will return to the lineup next season, and think they'll be huge contributors.  Be weary of Bonino, he's on the list now.

The Florida Panthers signed defenseman Jason Demers to an unrestricted free agent contract, adding depth to their blueline for the coming season, but his transaction record is definitely littered with injuries (and suspensions), enough to add his name to the list this Summer.  Last season with the Stars, Demers missed 20 games between injury and suspension, including a 13-game stint on the shelf, thanks to an upper-body injury.  Demers did play 81 games in the 2015 season, but otherwise, he has missed good portions of time in previous seasons, which doesn't add up in his favour.

The free agent signing was projected for 25 points last year and came up with 23 points, thanks to his injury and that actually dropped him below his draft ranking overall.  Demers was taken in the 12th round, 313th overall, but ended up 354th, which isn't too bad, but expectations were certainly higher for him last season.  I don't know if making them any higher will help.


It has been a real tough go for Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta, as the talented youngster has not been able to string together a lot of healthy games in the early part of his NHL career and it has now landed him on the list.  There's no question that this kid has some real upside to him, but a multitude of injuries, placements on the Injured Reserve and even a cancer scare have really added up to a bit of a reputation.  In the 2016 season, he was still able to play 67 games, but he wasn't able to find any consistency, which led to some lower scoring numbers.  If he could get a bit luckier, he could really shoot up the rankings.

At last season's draft, Maatta was taken in the 9th round, 237th overall, but his injury plagued season dropped him down to 399th in the rankings.  He should be a 40-point player, if not better, when healthy, but that's asking a lot right now, it would seem.


I don't think that there is any doubt that Kris Russell is going to find a job, but the current unrestricted free agent is sitting without a contract and now he belongs to this list, which can't be good news, right?  The shot-blocking defenseman is bound to get hurt, given the nature of what he does best, so it shouldn't come as any surprise he landed here.  Last season, after his arrival in Dallas, he missed 15 games over two stints with a lower-body injury and has suffered some other major injuries in the past, like a sprained MCL and a concussion in years previous.  He's not quite a sure thing to play in 75+ games a season.

When Russell was drafted last Fall, he was still a member of the Flames, taken up in the 10th round, 258th overall, but his season was mired under pending free agency and a glutton of defenders on the Calgary blueline, so his numbers suffered.  The injuries in Dallas didn't help and he finished down in 403rd spot, with 19 points.

Now, we get to the portion of the list, where we recap the previous additions, going all the way back to the Summer of 2008, when I started my list.

There are still three players in the league from the initial list, Kari Lehtonen and Ales Hemsky in Dallas and a current UFA, David Legwand.  All three were very steady for their teams in the year, where Lehtonen split time in a platoon situation, while Hemsky and Legwand each appeared in 75+ games in the year.  Would I trust them any more?  Probably not.

Only two names remain on the list from 2009, as Paul Stastny of the St. Louis Blues and Marian Gaborik of the Los Angeles Kings are still kicking around and neither of these guys had a good season in 2016.  Stastny missed 18 games and Gaborik missed 28 games, both due to injury, so the bug certainly knows where to bite them.

Andrei Markov, a member of the 2010 list, played in all 82 games for the Canadiens last season and finished 20th among all defensemen in scoring, so he was a beauty pick, if you wagered on him last season.  Joffrey Lupul of the Maple Leafs and Johan Franzen of the Red Wings were not good bets, playing in 46 and 2 games, respectively, thanks to a sports hernia and a concussion.  Both players are both signed on for next season, but there's no word if Franzen will even play.

Kevin Bieksa, a 2011 addition to the list, is set to play another season with the Anaheim Ducks and he managed to only missed 11 games for them last season.  A lower-body injury cost him a pair of games and then an upper-body injury kept him out of the team's last eight games of the season.  His numbers were not necessarily impressive, despite playing in most of the games either.  Tomas Fleischmann, another 2011 player, split time between Montreal and Chicago last season, currently unsigned, was healthy all year, but still only played in 76 games.  Hard to say if he'll be back next season.

The Summer of 2012 didn't see a list, thanks to the lockout season and the uncertainty that there would be any hockey being played, so we can quickly skip over that year.

In 2013, we had a pretty big add and nine of 10 players will suit up again in the 2017 season, the only one who won't will be Vincent Lecavalier, who retired this year.  Jeff Skinner and Mikael Backlund each had 82-game seasons, increasing their confidence, and Sidney Crosby played 80 games as well, but you know he's a marked man.  Newly-minted Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller even managed a 79-game season, while defensemen Mike Green and Kris Letang missed time, but not nearly as much as years previous.  Martin Hanzal, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were all back on the shelf on a regular basis in 2016 and continue to be risky picks.

The 2014 edition of the list saw a couple more 82-game seasons, former Boston forward Loui Eriksson and Nashville forward James Neal both made it through the 2016 season without incident.  A few stops on the shelf cost Tampa forward Ryan Callahan nine games in the season, while a concussion cost Mathieu Perreault of the Jets the last 10 games of the year.  Alexander Steen of the Blues, Zach Bogosian of the Sabres, Tyler Bozak of the Leafs and Mike Cammalleri of the Devils were all below 70 games on the season, Cammalleri barely making half the games, thanks to an upper-body injury.

It doesn't look like last year's list was too happy with me, as five of the 10 entries all played 77 games or more and really pushed through.  Still, I'm not sure I would trust Taylor Hall, Max Pacioretty, Mark Giordano, Michael Grabner, Kyle Okposo or P-A Parenteau... even if they have switched teams.  They'll all come back around, I'm sure.  I added a couple of goalies last year, Craig Anderson and Steve Mason and both appeared in a solid number of games each, both missing minimal games in 2016.  Pascal Dupuis had to retire due to complications of his injury and James Wisniewski is now a free agent thanks to a buyout after a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season.

Whether or not you heed these warnings are really up to you.  I think you've got to try and find players that you're going to trust, which will instill some confidence in your team after the draft.  You're going to stare at it for a few days before the season gets started and you'll drive yourself mad, if you don't trust their ability to stay healthy, let alone accumulate points.