Current Injuries Having the Biggest Impact in the NHL

No matter how carefully a National Hockey League general manager constructs his ideal lineup, any team can be sent back to the drawing board when key players go down with injuries.

Just one man can sometimes make or break a team. Earlier in the year, the Boston Bruins fell out of the playoff picture while captain Zdeno Chara was sidelined for 19 games with a knee injury. Since his return in December, the team has clawed its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

For a study in contrasts, consider these first-round opponents from the 2014 playoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins have maintained their winning record this season even when their lineup has been decimated, while the Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled at every turn and now sit 26th in the NHL standings.

Here's a look at the most significant recent NHL injuries, and how they'll affect each team's playoff outlook.

6. Jimmy Howard: Detroit Red Wings

USA TODAY Sports

The Injury: Groin, suffered Jan. 10 vs. Washington Capitals.

The Time Frame: Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports that Jimmy Howard has resumed practicing with the Detroit Red Wings and is targeting a return date of Feb. 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Impact: Though Howard is seen as a linchpin of the Red Wings' playoff chances, the team has done just fine while he has been sidelined.

Third- and fourth-stringers Petr Mrazek and Tom McCollum have been outstanding, backstopping the Wings to a 7-1-0 record in Howard's absence. Detroit is comfortably perched in third place in the Eastern Conference.

In the infirmary next to Howard, regular backup Jonas Gustavsson has been on the shelf with a shoulder injury since Nov. 5. He rejoined the Wings on Feb. 4, per the Red Wings website, and is now ready for game action.

Once Howard is back on the ice, Detroit will be enviably deep in net as it heads down the stretch with an eye toward a long playoff run.

5. Radko Gudas: Tampa Bay Lightning

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Injury: Knee injury, suffered Dec. 29 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Time Frame: Per NHL.com, the Tampa Bay Lighting announced on Jan. 6 that Gudas would miss about four months recovering from surgery on his knee.

The Impact: Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times worried when Gudas went down that the Lightning could have a tough time replacing that physical presence in their lineup with young players like Andrej Sustr, Mark Barberio or rookie Nikita Nesterov.

The Lightning have maintained their excellent home record since Gudas' injury, going 6-0, but his aggressive playing style may well be missed on the road, where the team is 2-4-1.

Tampa Bay's playoff position looks comfortable, and 24-year-old Czech Gudas isn't a high-profile player. But he's a big-bodied right-side defender with an edge to his game—exactly the type of player coach Jon Cooper will hope to rely on when the playoffs begin in April.

4. Kevin Bieksa: Vancouver Canucks

Scott Audette/Getty Images

The Injury: Broken hand, suffered Jan. 20 at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Time Frame: Ben Kuzma of The Vancouver Province says multiple bones were broken in Bieksa's wrist when he got on the wrong side of a Victor Hedman slap shot. Bieksa has had surgery and is out indefinitely. Kuzma cites examples of similar injuries where players took two months or more to get back into action.

The Impact: Though Vancouver general manager Jim Benning initially told Vancouver's TSN1040 "We have depth and our other defencemen will get a chance to play" (per Kuzma), he acquired young right-handed defenseman Adam Clendening via trade just nine days after Bieksa's injury occurred (from Canucks.com), shuffling the ranks of Vancouver's blueliners.

Since Bieksa was hurt, the Canucks have cobbled together a respectable 2-2-0 record, but his absence is noticeably on the penalty kill, which has quickly dropped from first to fourth in the league without his steady hand.

All told, Bieksa hasn't had a great season, but his leadership is a cornerstone of the Canucks organization. It's not yet clear how Vancouver will fill that emotional void while he's sidelined.

3. Henrik Lundqvist: New York Rangers

USA TODAY Sports

The Injury: Upper-body, stemming from a puck to the throat on Jan. 31 vs. Carolina Hurricanes.

The Time Frame: After being hit in the throat by a puck at the 3:02 mark of the second period last Saturday, Henrik Lundqvist was able to stay in the game and earn a 4-1 win over Carolina. He went on to backstop the New York Rangers to a 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers two nights later, but Lundqvist may not be out of the woods.

NHL.com reported (via the Canadian Press) that coach Alain Vigneault announced at Wednesday's morning skate that Lundqvist would miss that night's game against the Boston Bruins "for an undisclosed reason relating to being struck in the throat."

Vigneault added that the issue "wasn't a concussion" and that the club was "investigating." 

The Impact: If the injury keeps Lundqvist sidelined for any period of time, that spells big trouble for the Rangers' playoff chances. He's a workhorse who has appeared in 39 of the team's 49 games and has improved on his 2013-14 regular-season record that preceded a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Rangers fans will be hoping that Lundqvist's current absence is a precautionary move and that he won't miss significant time.

2. Kyle Okposo: New York Islanders

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Injury: Detached retina, on injured reserve since Jan. 26.

The Time Frame: Coming out of the All-Star break, the New York Islanders originally announced that second-leading scorer Kyle Okposo would be out six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury. It wasn't until Feb. 3 that coach Jack Capuano disclosed Okposo's injury as a detached retina, per Katie Strang of ESPN. Serious stuff.

The Impact: Losing Okposo for any period of time is a blow to the Islanders' storybook season. An eye injury also invites speculation about a whether or not a player will regain his full vision when he returns to action.

The Islanders went into the All-Star break atop the Metropolitan Division but have gone 1-3-0 since Okposo was injured, scoring just five goals in their last three games.

New York fell to second place in the division after the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 4, and it can't afford to fall much further. A playoff spot remains a near certainty, but the Islanders will be hoping to enter the postseason with swagger—and a fully recovered Okposo. 

1. Kevin Shattenkirk: St. Louis Blues

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The Injury: Abdominal surgery, following an injury sustained Feb. 1 against the Washington Capitals.

“It was one where he just went to hit (Alexander) Ovechkin and dragged his foot there, and obviously hurt his abdominal to the area where he’s going to need the surgery,” St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong explained to Jeremy P. Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Time Frame: Per NHL.com, the Blues announced on Feb. 2 that Shattenkirk would have surgery within the next seven to 10 days, then would be listed week-to-week. 

The Impact: Enormous. Twenty-six-year-old Shattenkirk was fresh off an All-Star Game appearance and in the midst of a breakout season, with 40 points in 49 games. As his replacement, Chris Butler, pointed out, "I would think he’d be one of the front-runners for the Norris Trophy."

If there's a silver lining, SportsClubStats reports that the Blues have already clinched a playoff spot, with more than nine weeks to go in the regular season. That buys Shattenkirk some time to focus his sights on recovering just in time for the gruelling playoff push.

All stats courtesy of NHL.com, current through Feb. 4. All injury info from TSN.ca.