The Most Injury-Prone Players on Each Team in the NHL

It seems like every team has that guy who they know for a fact won't ever give them 82 games. He's either brittle, old or just can't stay healthy. Whatever the reason is, that guy is known as injury-prone guy. 

Every team has him. 

He spends more time in the weight room recovering than on the ice. He probably spends more time on crutches than on his own two feet.

Here are the most injury-prone players on each team in the NHL. We can guarantee one thing: When fans come to the arena to see these players, they're going to be disappointed because they won't be on the ice!

Anaheim Ducks: Teemu Selanne

We get it. He played 73 games last year, which is remarkable for a man his age. But this guy was drafted by a team that stopped existing and then was brought back to life this year in the Winnipeg Jets. He's that old. 

If he does come back to play for the Ducks this year, which we all hope he does, he'll be the most injury-prone player on the team. At 41, it seems like one nasty hit could end his career. And despite playing 73 games last season, he only played 54 in 2009-10, 65 in 2008-09 and 26 in 2007-08.

Boston Bruins: Marc Savard

One vicious hit by Matt Cooke has changed everything for Marc Savard. He now has to live with the serious concussion he sustained from the hit by Cooke for the rest of his life. Who knows how even small hits may impact Savard. He played in 41 games in 2009-10 and just 25 last season. 

Buffalo Sabres: Drew Stafford

Each year the forward misses more and more games. After missing just three games in 2008-09, Stafford missed 11 in 2009-10 and a whopping 20 last season. What's most impressive, though, is his 52-point season in the 62 games he played last year. He's really coming around as a solid player. He just needs to stay on the ice. 

Calgary Flames: David Moss

This was kind of a tough choice. However, Moss has missed a total of 42 games in the last two seasons due to injury. His right ankle made him miss many games last year. Hopefully he can find his way back into games so the label of injury-prone won't stick with him any longer.

Carolina Hurricanes: Cam Ward

This honor could have easily gone to Erik Cole, but he's in Montreal now. So Cam Ward gets the honor instead. He had a leg laceration in 2009-10 that kept him out of many games. Later that year, he suffered an upper body injury. He was healthy last season, so let's see if he can keep it up. 

Chicago Blackhawks: Marian Hossa

Being called injury-prone is a thousand times better than being called the guy who can't win in big games. So Hossa won't really mind being here. But he deserves the honor either way. In 2009-10, he missed 25 games in his first year with the Blackhawks. Then the following year he missed 17 more. As Hossa gets older, his body is getting weaker, and that huge contract the Blackhawks gave him may soon not be worth the years and money. 

Colorado Avalanche: Milan Hejduk

It's not that he's had a career of injury problems, it's that he's 35 and he's starting to have them. Peter Forsberg retired so he couldn't represent the Avalanche on this list. Hejduk only missed 11 games last year, but the year before he missed 26 games. His age does not do him any favors, so he gets the honor for most injury-prone player on the Avalanche. 

Columbus Blue Jackets: Radek Martinek

Radek Martinek joins the Columbus Blue Jackets after years of sitting on the New York Islanders' IR. In the nine years he played for the Islanders, he only played more than 70 games once. One really needs to look at his career stats page to realize how injury-prone he is. He missed 18 games last season, 66 in 2009-10, 31 in 2008-09 and the missed action just goes on and on. 

Dallas Stars: Sheldon Souray

The only full season Sheldon Souray played was back in 2006-07 with Montreal and in 2008-09 with Edmonton. Other than that, Souray has missed a significant amount of time in every year of his career. He missed all of last season and only played in 37 games in 2009-10. Now he's with the Dallas Stars. Something tells me he's going to get hurt again. 

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Holmstrom

With age comes brittleness. Although Tomas Holmstrom played in 73 games last season, he will be turning 39 this season and this doesn't really help him. He missed 23 games in 2007-08 and 29 in 2008-09. He's been doing a better job staying off the IR in the last couple of seasons, but since he's 39 now, it's highly expected he will spend some time on the IR this year. 

Edmonton Oilers: Ales Hemsky

Now that Sheldon Souray is gone, Ales Hemsky automatically wins this honor in Edmonton. He only played in 47 games last season and the year before that he skated in 22. He's only played in one full season back in 2005-06. It'll be a miracle if Hemsky stays away from the IR this year. 

Florida Panthers: Tomas Fleischmann

Tomas Fleischmann's case is not a laughing matter. It will be interesting to see what happens to him in Florida. Last season he had blood clots in each of his lungs. We all hope that the problem is under control like doctors say it is and that it won't reemerge to hinder his playing career. 

Los Angeles Kings: Simon Gagne

The Kings may have signed a prolific scorer in Simon Gagne, but he's also a guy that missed 19 games last year with Tampa Bay, 24 games the year before with Philadelphia and played in only 25 games back in 2007-08. 

Minnesota Wild: Marek Zidlicky

He missed a chunk of last season. He only played in 46 games. Prior to that he would play over 75 games a year. It's not that he is injury-prone, it's that he might be well on his way to becoming injury-prone.

Montreal Canadiens: Andrei Markov

Markov played 78 games in 2008-09. Then in 2009-10, he played in 45 games. Last year, he only played in seven. Each year he becomes more and more injury prone. However, he was still rewarded a three-year contract by Montreal this past season. There might be three more years of Markov's name under the IR in Montreal. 

Nashville Predators: David Legwand

The longest tenured Nashville Predator has done a great job throughout his career staying on the ice. He played a full season in 2009-10. However, he is now in his 30s. He's missed chunks of seasons before. For instance, he only played in 44 games in 2005-06 and last year he missed 18 games. We'll see how Legwand does this year with respect to injuries. 

New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur

The 39-year old netminder is starting to miss more and more games every year. He missed a good chunk last season and a bigger chunk in 2008-09. This is expected, though. He generally started over 70 games a year in his prime and now his age is catching up to him. 

New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro

In the last three seasons, Rick DiPietro has started in 39 games. Enough said. 

New York Rangers: Marion Gaborik

After playing in only 17 games in 2008-09, the talented winger signed a contract with the New York Rangers. He stayed healthy for the first time in a long time in 2009-10, but missed 20 games last season. It seems like his great talent has been wasted away because of injuries that keep him off the ice for long periods. 

Ottawa Senators: Sergei Gonchar

Pascal Leclaire would've been here, but he is now gone. So Sergei Gonchar wins the honor. At 37, he's been starting to miss plenty of games. He only played in 25 games for the Penguins in 2008-09 before making a valiant comeback in the postseason to help them win the Cup. The year after, he missed 20 games and in his first year with Ottawa he missed 15 games. His age doesn't help his case. We're going to see a lot more of Gonchar on the IR. 

Philadelphia Flyers: Chris Pronger

The legendary defenseman will be turning 37 this season. He's been very good staying on the ice in his 30s. He played full seasons in 2008-09 and in 2009-10. However, last year he showed signs of his injury-prone body returning to haunt him: he missed 32 games. Earlier in his career, Pronger was very injury prone. He only played in 5 games in 2002-03 and missed 31 games in 2000-01. We'll see how Pronger's body reacts after an injury-filled season. 

Phoenix Coyotes: Rostislav Klesla

The injury-prone defenseman had spent his whole career on the Columbus Blue Jackets before being traded to the Desert. He only missed 21 games last year, which is a lot better than the 56 games he missed the year before that. Klesla missed 48 games in 2008-09, and these staggering numbers make him the most injury-prone Coyote. 

Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby

We all know that Crosby missed 41 games last year because of a concussion. But let's not kid ourselves, Crosby has been bombarded with injuries for pretty much his whole career. He got injured in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2009. The year before that he missed 29 games. And now with the concussion, he has to be very careful that he doesn't get hurt again. 

All of these injuries make his accomplishments look that much more amazing.

San Jose Sharks: Martin Havlat

The last three seasons have been great for Martin Havlat. He's played in at least 73 games in all three seasons. However, before this, Havlat was highly injury prone. He only played in 18 games for Ottawa in 2005-06, which lead to the Ottawa Senators giving up on him. He went to the Blackhawks and missed 26 games in his first season. Then the year after he only played in 35 games. He's stayed healthy recently and let's hope it stays that way. 

St. Louis Blues: Carlo Colaiacovo

Colaiacovo is showing signs of being injury prone. He missed 17 games last year and 15 the year before. We'll see how he responds this season. 

Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan Malone

The number of games Malone has played in has decreased in each of the last four seasons. After playing in 77 games with Pittsburgh in 2007-08, Malone only played in 54 games last year. Hitting the age of 30 does not help Malone's case either. 

Toronto Maple Leafs: Tim Connolly

Connolly has missed a significant portion in each of the last six seasons. Most notably, he only played in two games in 2006-07. Following that campaign, he missed 68 games in the next two seasons combined. After a relatively healthy season in 2009-10, Connolly missed 14 games last season. 

Vancouver Canucks: Sami Salo

Sami Salo will turn 37 soon and injuries will be catching up to him. Salo only played in 27 games in the regular season last year. He's also missed chunks of time in every season since 2005-06. 

Washington Capitals: Mike Green

After playing a full season in 2007-08, Mike Green started getting hurt more often. Last season, he only played in 49 games, which means he spent more time making Geico ads than actually playing hockey. 

Winnipeg Jets: Ondrej Pavelec

This was a tough one to choose. But we have to go with Ondrej Pavelec because of his scary collapse last season against Washington. If someone collapses like that on the ice, it has to make him the most injury-prone player on his team.