Fantasy buzz: Impact of Bishop, Jones injuries, Johnson's return

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.

Bishop leaves game for Stars, out at least two weeks

Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop left their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday with a lower-body injury. Bishop, who was making his second start after missing five games with a knee injury,
will be out at least two weeks
.
Bishop (66th in Yahoo) is tied for fourth in shutouts (five), tied for 11th in wins (26) and ranks 11th in goals-against average (2.49) among goaltenders with at least 30 games. Backup Kari Lehtonen (27 percent owned in Yahoo) is the in-house replacement option for Bishop. Lehtonen was 1-3-1 with a .912 save percentage in five starts when Bishop was out with the knee injury.
Fantasy owners should be cautious about picking up Lehtonen because eight of Dallas' final nine games are against Stanley Cup Playoff contenders. The Stars have recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from Texas of the American Hockey League. The Stars have one back-to-back set remaining April 6-7 against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

The top outside replacement for Bishop is Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta (40 percent), who made 30 saves on 32 shots faced (.938 SV%) in their 3-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. It was his first start since March 3 after missing six games with a lower-body injury. Since Jan. 1, Raanta ranks second in save percentage (.935) and goals-against average (2.03) behind Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (fifth in Yahoo).
Others to consider: Philipp Grubauer, WSH (40 percent); Curtis McElhinney, TOR (25 percent); James Reimer, FLA (19 percent); Juuse Saros, NSH (13 percent); Alexandar Georgiev, NYR (5 percent)

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Jones to miss second-straight game for Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones will not play for the second-straight game against the Boston Bruins on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, NESN, FS-O, NHL.TV) because of an upper-body injury. Jones is traveling with the Blue Jackets, who also play at the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Jones (72nd in Yahoo) is tied for second in goals (14), ranks 12th in points (49) and third in shots on goal (234) among defensemen. He plays frequently on the top pair with Zach Werenski and has seen significant time on the first power-play unit.
Jack Johnson ($2,800 in DraftKings) played on the top pair with Werenski ($5,100) against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and is a DFS value pick against the Bruins. Werenski is tied with Jones in goals (14), and Johnson already has a high floor considering he leads the Blue Jackets with 130 blocked shots in 72 games.

Johnson returns for Avalanche on Sunday

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson returned to their lineup against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. Johnson (24 percent owned in Yahoo) was eased back into the rotation, playing 19:52 on the second pair with Patrik Nemeth, but should eventually return to the top pair.
Despite missing 15 games on the season, Johnson ranks second among Avalanche defenseman in points (22) and shots on goal (153) and leads Avalanche skaters in ice time per game (25:36). Johnson is worth adding in most formats with even-strength exposure to elite center Nathan MacKinnon (third in Yahoo) and wing Mikko Rantanen (24th), who are tied with each other for the League lead in points (18) since March 1. The Avalanche have 10 games remaining, including two against the non-contending Chicago Blackhawks.

Niederreiter, Bennett among notable line trends

-- Minnesota Wild wing Nino Niederreiter (LW/RW, 32 percent owned in Yahoo) is playing on the top line with center Eric Staal (29th in Yahoo) and wing Jason Zucker (54th). Since Feb. 1, Staal is tied with elite forwards Claude Giroux (15th), Aleksander Barkov (48th) and Anze Kopitar (23rd) for eighth in League scoring (27 points). Exposure to Staal and Zucker makes Niederreiter an attractive add in season-long formats, and his low DraftKings price ($4,200) makes him stackable with Staal ($6,800) or Zucker ($6,200) against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV).
-- Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett (C/LW; 6 percent) is expected to skate on their top line with center Sean Monahan (47th in Yahoo) and left wing Johnny Gaudreau (22nd). Bennett ($4,200) can be stacked with either Monahan ($6,900) or Gaudreau ($7,200) against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (10 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNW, NHL.TV).

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