Fantasy buzz: Impact of Horvat injury on Canucks

All season long, NHL.com's fantasy hockey staff will have you covered with daily lineup news, production trends and injury notes from around the League. We will identify how these developments affect fantasy owners in year-long (Yahoo) and daily (DraftKings) formats.

3 p.m.

Implications of recent injuries, players returning Friday

-- Ryan Johansen (C, NSH; upper body) has been placed on injured reserve. Johansen, who has fallen short of preseason fantasy expectations (142nd in Yahoo; average draft position: 100.3), will not play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV). The Predators have a four-day break following that game, leaving the possibility that Johansen could return as early as Wednesday at the Vancouver Canucks.

The Predators have kept the productive line of Kyle Turris, Kevin Fiala and Craig Smith intact during Johansen's two-game absence, but have spread out Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson onto separate lines. Forsberg ($6,900 in DraftKings) is projected to play alongside Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Aberg, and Arvidsson ($6,500) is with Colton Sissons and Nick Bonino. Smith and Fiala are worth consideration as injury replacements in standard leagues given their production since the Turris trade Nov. 5. For DFS value stacking purposes, it's worth noting Jarnkrok is priced much higher ($3,900) than Sissons ($3,200), Bonino ($3,200) and Aberg ($3,000) against the Golden Knights.
-- Aleksander Barkov (C, FLA; upper body) is day to day after sustaining an injury against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Barkov plays frequently alongside Jonathan Huberdeau on the Florida Panthers top line, and any lengthy absence could negatively affect Huberdeau's fantasy value. For now, Huberdeau played mostly alongside Vincent Trocheck and Nick Bjugstad (C/RW, 4 percent owned) after Barkov left the game Thursday.
Trocheck (27th in Yahoo) has been one of the biggest fantasy steals of the season, and Bjugstad has seen an uptick in value with two goals on 15 shots on goal over his past four games playing mostly on the top line with Barkov and Huberdeau. If the Panthers continue to stack Trocheck and Huberdeau on the same line in Barkov's absence, it should keep each player's fantasy value high, but a top-heavy lineup would severely hurt Florida's depth.
-- Corey Crawford (G, CHI; lower body) will start against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH+, MSG-B, NHL.TV) after missing the past three games. He ranks fifth among goalies in Yahoo based on standard-category performance and is arguably the safest play of the night regardless of fantasy format considering he is 8-0-0 with a .929 save percentage in eight career games against the Sabres. Backup Anton Forsberg went 0-2-1 with a .910 save percentage in Crawford's absence and is now droppable in most formats.
-- Andre Burakovsky (LW/RW, WSH; fractured thumb) will return against the New York Rangers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, SN, NBCSWA, MSG) after missing the past 20 games. He is expected to start on the third line with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly, but could easily gain exposure to Evgeny Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom over the course of the game at even strength and/or on the power play.

Right wing Tom Wilson had four points (two goals, two assists) alongside Alex Ovechkin and Backstrom against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, and Alex Chiasson is expected to start on the second line with Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana in the absence of right wing T.J. Oshie (upper body). Burakovsky is dual eligible (LW/RW) and 34 percent owned in Yahoo leagues and an attractive value play at $4,000 in DraftKings.

9:30 a.m.

Horvat injury has ripple effect on Canucks lineup

Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat could miss up to six weeks because of a fractured foot. It's a huge blow to the Canucks and also to fantasy owners of Horvat and his linemates.
Horvat (37 percent owned in Yahoo) has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) a plus-5 and 65 shots on goal in 28 games and is second on the Canucks in goals and points, trailing rookie linemate Brock Boeser (14 goals, 26 points). Sven Baertchi (LW, 9 percent owned) has been the third member of that line until recently when Nikolay Goldobin (LW/RW; owned in fewer than 1 percent) was shifted into that spot.
Horvat and Boeser (73 percent owned) have shown great chemistry as a point pair, with each getting a point on 13 Canucks goals, and Boeser is among the rookie leaders in goals and points. In Horvat's place, Alexander Burmistrov was given the first crack at No. 1 center in Vancouver's 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, playing 12:44 with one shot on goal. Sam Gagner, who later centered Boeser and Baertchi, played 15:58, had two shots on goal and won nine of 10 face-offs. Gagner was on the ice when Boeser scored for Vancouver.
Despite playing without Horvat, Boeser was impressive in 16:45 of ice time with one goal and seven shots on goal. There likely will be more trials to come during Horvat's absence, but someone like Gagner (C/LW/RW, 2 percent owned) should see an increase in fantasy ownership if he's given that chance on a nightly basis. Gagner has 11 points (three goals, eight assists), five power-play points and 61 shots on goal in 29 games this season. He had an NHL career-high 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) and 18 power-play points as the Columbus Blue Jackets' third-line center last season.
Another in-house option to replace Horvat on the top line is veteran Henrik Sedin (C, 10 percent owned), who has 17 points (two goals, 15 assists). Mikael Backlund (C, CGY; 23 percent owned), Alex Kerfoot (C/RW, COL; 13 percent) and Ryan Nugent Hopkins (C, EDM; 29 percent) are low-ownership, center-eligible players from other teams who could replace Horvat in fantasy lineups.
For additional Horvat replacement options, refer to Pete Jensen's
top 100 fantasy forward rankings
.