Early Season Injuries

Injuries in a contact sport such as hockey come in great abundance every season and plagues even some of the league's best players. Injuries affect teams in more ways than one as they can leave teams with feelings of uncertainty on they will perform as well as the players' absence in general. The players below are some the stars from some of the strongest teams so far this season.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues is projected to be out for at least four to five months with a left shoulder injury after taking an open ice hit from a Las Angeles Kings' Defender. The power forward will definitely leave a hole in the Blues' lineup as the twenty-seven year old has always been a clutch and strong goal-scorer for his team. The Blues' depth line up will definitely be tested in his absence, but if they play anything like they did during the second half of the season last year they will definitely be able to make up for the teams' loss of the sharpshooter.

Quinn Hughes

Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks took a nasty ankle injury while trying to pivot backwards against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, November 2nd, 2019 . Hughes' status is day-to-day while planning to miss all upcoming games for the Canucks. The rookie defender has been pivotal in the Canucks' success this year as he has accumulated one goal and nine assists netting him a total of ten points in thirteen games. Many analyst picked the strong rookie defender to be a nominee for and possibly win the Calder Memorial Trophy, a trophy given to the rookie of the year.

Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche received a nasty ankle injury while back-checking when hitting a dip in the ice causing Rantanen to be pulled from the game against St. Louis immediately. Rantanen had racked up eight points in eleven games during his time playing this season. Rantanen has been placed on injured reserve while they closing monitor his injury for the next few weeks to decide a date for him to return to the line up. Rantanen is the right winger for Colorado's lethal first line with Nathan Mackinnon as center and Gabriel Landeskog as left winger. With Rantanen out of that line Colorado's depth players will for sure be tested as some lines will definitely be swapped around for some time until the power forward returns.

Victor Hedman

Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning suffered an upper-body injury against their previous game against the New York Rangers. It is unclear what exactly caused the world class defender to exit early but definitely seems like the Lightning will take a blow from his absence. Hedman has registered nine points in eleven games including a game winning goal. He is leading himself towards a fourth consecutive fifty point season for the twenty eight year-old. Hedman is expected to return in Sweden against the Buffalo Sabres for the Global Series match-ups.

John Tavares

John Tavares from the Toronto Maple Leafs was placed on injured reserve on October 18th, 2019 after suffering a broken finger against the Washington Capitals where Toronto went on to lose the game. Tavares will be out for at least two weeks and maybe more if his finger does not react to treatment well. The star center has enjoyed a bright start to the season as he seven points in eight games including three goals and four assists. Tavares did return to practice on November 2nd but will be unavailable to play until Toronto plays the Las Angeles Kings.