Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad is expected to return Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks after missing four games because of an upper-body injury. He should promptly be inserted back into your year-long Yahoo lineups, especially considering Chicago will be on the second of a back-to-back set.
Ekblad (89 percent owned in Yahoo) is Florida's top defenseman and one of the most valuable keeper-league assets at his position. The 19-year-old is tied with Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues and Olli Maatta of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the NHL lead in plus/minus among defensemen (plus-17).
Though Ekblad's category coverage is limited -- he accumulates penalty minutes, hits and blocked shots at moderate to low rates -- he's on pace for 34 points (11 on power play) and close to 200 shots on goal if he plays 78 games. He ranks 24th among defensemen based on performance in standard Yahoo categories this season.
The Panthers had won 12 straight games, including the one where Ekblad was injured Jan. 10 against the Edmonton Oilers. They went 0-3-1 in his absence, and their six defensemen had minus ratings and combined for no goals and one assist in that span.
Florida's power play is tied for second worst in the NHL (15.5 percent), and was not helped by Ekblad's injury. Brian Campbell (3:06 per game) and Dmitry Kulikov (2:32) saw the bulk of the power-play minutes with Ekblad sidelined, but the Panthers went 0-for-12 with the man-advantage without their sophomore standout.
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