Fantasy buzz: Impact of Monahan, Toews injuries; Luongo, Lundqvist 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.

Monahan to miss remainder of season

Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan has been shut down for the remainder of the season because of two separate injuries.
Monahan (ranked 57th in Yahoo) has 64 points (31 goals, 33 assists) in 74 games. He has provided category coverage with face-off wins (709; ranked 12th in the League), shots on goal (202) and power-play points (19).
Flames forward Sam Bennett (C/LW; 6 percent owned in Yahoo) is expected to take Monahan's spot on the top line with left wing John Gaudreau. The exposure to Gaudreau (23rd in Yahoo) makes Bennett an intriguing add but fantasy owners should be cautious because Bennett has been held without a point and is a minus-7 in the past six games.

An outside replacement option is Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who is playing on the top line with Connor McDavid (ranked 8th in Yahoo). Nugent-Hopkins has nine points (four goals, five assists) and is a plus-10 in seven games since being moved to wing on the first line. Right wing Ty Rattie (3 percent owned in Yahoo) is also worth streaming in season-long formats with exposure to both McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins. Rattie has five points (three goals, two assists) and is a plus-7 in four games since being placed on the first line.
The Oilers have eight games remaining, including a back-to-back set on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings and on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.
In DFS contests, Nugent-Hopkins ($6,600), McDavid ($7,700) and Rattie ($5,000) would be an expensive stack against the Kings (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN1, FS-W, NHL.TV) but a combination of any two would be worth streaming based on recent trends.

Toews out against Islanders

Center Jonathan Toews will miss his second-straight game when the Chicago Blackhawks visit the New York Islanders on Saturday (7 p.m ET; MSG+, WGN, NHL.TV). He left their game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday with an upper-body injury and will be reevaluated next week.
Toews (ranked 85th in Yahoo) has 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 74 games and provides category coverage with face-off wins (900; ranked fourth in the League) and shots on goal (211). Forward Nick Schmaltz had a goal and three SOG skating on the top line in place of Toews in their 5-2 loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Schmaltz (C/LW; 19 percent owned in Yahoo) ranks third on the Blackhawks with 49 points (21 goals, 28 assists), second in power-play points (13) and third in face-off wins (288). The exposure to right wing Patrick Kane (45th in Yahoo) makes Schmaltz a safe short-term replacement option.
After their game against the Islanders, the Blackhawks play three games next week (Monday against the San Jose Sharks, Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets and Friday against the Colorado Avalanche).
An outside replacement option for Toews is Pittsburgh Penguins center Derick Brassard (35 percent owned). He is on a five game point streak with five points (one goal, four assists), 16 SOG and 27 face-off wins. Brassard is playing on the third line with right wing Phil Kessel (ranked 9th in Yahoo) and gains additional value because the Penguins play five games (including their contest Sunday against the Flyers) in eight days.

Outside replacement options: Mika Zibanejad, NYR (C; 45 percent); Paul Stastny, WPG (39 percent); David Krejci, BOS (C; 34 percent owned); Max Domi, ARI (27 percent); Boone Jenner, CBJ (C/LW; 21 percent); Charlie Coyle, MIN (C/LW; 14 percent)

Lundqvist, Luongo day to day

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is expected to miss their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG-B, NHL.TV) with a back and neck injury. Backup goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (7 percent owned in Yahoo) is expected to start.
The 22-year-old is 3-3-1 with a .918 save percentage in eight appearances. He should be considered a streaming option in a favorable matchup against the Sabres who are playing on the second end of a back-to-back after losing 3-0 against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Georgiev ($7,300 in DraftKings) should be streamed as a value goalie in DFS contests because the Sabres give up the second-most points to goaltenders in DraftKings.
Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo will miss their game against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (7 p.m. ET: FS-F, FS-A, NHL.TV) with an upper-body injury. Backup goaltender James Reimer will start. Reimer (21 percent owned) is 5-1-0 with a .914 SV% in his past six appearances. In DFS contests, Reimer is ($8,300) tied for the second most expensive goaltender with Columbus Blue Jackets starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Harri Sateri will serve as the backup to Reimer.

Kuznetsov back

Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov is expected to return to their lineup against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Kuznetsov will center the top line with left wing Alex Ovechkin and wing Tom Wilson.
Prior to his injury, Kuznetsov ($6,800 in DraftKings) had three straight multipoint games including one goal and six assists over the span. He has five assists in two games against the Canadiens and can be stacked with Ovechkin ($8,000), who has five points (four goals, one assist) in two games against Montreal.
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