Fantasy buzz: Laine, Fleury injured; Price back; Tarasenko out

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.

MORE FANTASY COVERAGE:
Top 100 'F'
|
Top 50 'D'
|
Projected lineups

Laine leaves game for Jets; injury may not be serious

Winnipeg Jets right wing Patrik Laine left their game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday with a lower-body injury and did not return. Coach Paul Maurice said he does not think the injury is long-term, but fantasy owners of the elite goal-scorer are awaiting a further update for purposes of the fantasy playoffs.
Laine (21st in Yahoo) leads the League in goals (18 in 16 games) since Feb. 16, thriving on a line with mostly center Paul Stastny and left wing Nikolaj Ehlers since the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. Laine ranks second in goals (43) behind Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (44) through 73 games each.
The Jets have three games remaining on their current six-game homestand, but do not play again until Friday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Fleury leaves game for Golden Knights; Subban readily available

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury left their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday with an undisclosed injury and did not return. Backup Malcolm Subban stopped 22 of 23 shots faced in Vegas' 4-1 win.
Fleury (19th in Yahoo), one of the biggest fantasy steals League-wide after being drafted on average at 138.3, will not travel with the Golden Knights for their game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Any potential absence of Fleury, who has started 10 straight games, opens the door for Subban to return to fantasy relevance down the stretch.
Subban (14 percent, 200th in Yahoo) is 11-3-1 with a .914 save percentage and filled in admirably when Fleury missed time because of a concussion earlier in the season. Subban has also dealt with multiple injuries, but looked sharp in his first game since Feb. 2.

Price returning for Canadiens on Wednesday

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is expected to start against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, ATTSN-PT, RDS, NHL.TV) after missing 14 games with a concussion.
Price (85 percent owned, 437th in Yahoo) has been limited to 43 games (42 starts) and has severely underachieved based on average draft position (5.9). He's 15-22-6 with a 2.98 goals-against average and .904 save percentage, significantly worse than his NHL career averages (2.45 GAA, .919 SV%)
He has against-the-grain value on this four-game DFS slate ($7,100 in DraftKings) at the Penguins, who are on the second of a back-to-back but have the best power play in the NHL (25.7 percent). Price has struggled on the road (4-15-1; .897 SV%) and is a risky play Wednesday in season-long leagues, but should be considered a decent streaming option for the rest of the season. The Canadiens have nine games remaining, three against non-contending teams (one at Buffalo Sabres on Friday, two against Detroit Red Wings on March 26 and April 5).

Tarasenko out for Blues on Wednesday; Dunn worth considering

St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko will miss his second-straight game against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, NHL.TV). He did not play against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday because of an upper-body injury.
In the absence of Tarasenko (38th in Yahoo), Alexander Steen (C/LW/RW, 40 percent owned) has been promoted to the top line with forwards Brayden Schenn (35th in Yahoo) and Jaden Schwartz (119th). Those three forwards played on the first power-play unit with defensemen Alex Pietrangelo (104th) and Vince Dunn (2 percent) on Sunday. Dunn had four points (one goal, three assists), two on the power play, against the Blackhawks and is worth streaming in deep leagues.
The Blues power play went 2-for-3 against the Blackhawks on Sunday and presents a variety of stacking options against the Bruins on Wednesday. Dunn ($3,400) and Steen ($4,700) can either be stacked together or individually offset the high prices of Pietrangelo ($6,100), Schwartz ($6,400) or Schenn ($6,200). The Bruins will be without center Patrice Bergeron (foot) and defenseman Charlie McAvoy (knee) and are also dealing with injuries to forwards Rick Nash (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (upper body), David Backes (lower body) and defenseman Zdeno Chara (undisclosed), making this a less-daunting game for St. Louis.
After the Blues host the Bruins on Wednesday, they have nine games remaining, four against non-contenders.
---
Check out DraftKings.com to play 1-Day Fantasy Hockey today. Entering is quick and simple: sign up for one free entry with first deposit (min $5) into a $3 1-Day Fantasy Hockey contest and set your lineup, catch the games and win!
For entertainment purposes only. Winning a contest on DraftKings depends on knowledge and exercise of skill. Available to play for free. Not a gambling website. See www.ncrg.org for information regarding responsible gaming. Must be at least 18 years or older. Higher age limits may apply in some states. Residents of AL, AZ, GA, HI, ID, IA, LA, MT, NV and WA not eligible to play in paid contests. Offered in IL and TX pending litigation. Void where prohibited. See www.draftkings.com/help/terms for details.