Fantasy Spin: Seguin injury a huge blow

Two of the top 10 fantasy players will miss the remainder of the regular season because of injuries, leaving fantasy owners with no choice but to tap into the waiver wire for help.
Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins sustained an upper-body injury last week, and Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars will miss 3-4 weeks because of an Achilles injury sustained Thursday. Seguin's injury comes at an inopportune time for both the Stars, who have a two-point lead on the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division, and fantasy owners, who are in the midst of head-to-head league playoffs.
Seguin is fifth in Yahoo's performance-based rankings behind Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Stars teammate Jamie Benn and defenseman Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks. Seguin is the only player in the League with at least 30 goals (33), 30 assists (40), 20 power-play points (24) and 250 shots on goal (278).

If you're looking for an in-house replacement, definitely give Stars forward Cody Eakin (C, 4 percent owned) a look. He has been involved in the constant line jumbling in Dallas this season but has experience centering Benn and Seguin. The line following Seguin's injury Thursday was Benn, Eakin and Patrick Eaves (LW/RW, 2 percent owned)
Eakin had three assists Thursday, one coming on Benn's game-winning goal, and has at least one point in four of his past five games. With Stars forward Mattias Janmark out because of an upper-body injury, Eakin has a chance to stick on Benn's line and reap the fantasy rewards.

As for outside options, there are a number of different routes to take:
Cam Atkinson (RW, 38 percent owned) of the Columbus Blue Jackets had a power-play assist and four shots on goal Thursday, giving him five goals, two assists, two power-play points and 30 shots on goal in his past seven games. He is one of 18 players with 20-plus goals, 20-plus assists and 200 shots on goal this season and is playing on the Blue Jackets' top line with Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner.
Tomas Hertl (C/LW, 32 percent owned) plays alongside an elite point pair in Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. He has points in three straight with a plus-2 and six shots on goal. While he's been inconsistent at times he has quality totals in goals (17), assists (21), plus/minus (plus-14) and shots on goal (171).
David Pastrnak (LW/RW, 24 percent owned) of the Boston Bruins is another viable option. He has points in three straight games and four of his past five while playing on a line with David Krejci and Loui Eriksson.
For those in the deepest of formats who were not quick enough to add Eakin, the New Jersey Devils' Devante Smith-Pelly (RW, 3 percent owned) and the Arizona Coyotes' Alex Tanguay (LW/RW, 7 percent owned) are the only players traded this season with at least a point per game with their new teams.
For more on the pros and cons of adding them, check out this week's Fantasy Friday analysis.
It's also worth noting that the teams with the most remaining games in the League entering Friday are the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks with 13 apiece. Dual-eligible top-six forwards from these teams worth consideration include Brayden Schenn (C/LW, 69 percent owned, playing with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds), Marcus Johansson (C/LW/RW, 29 percent owned, on a line with Justin Williams), Anders Lee (C/LW, 24 percent owned playing with Frans Nielsen), and Brandon Pirri (C/LW/RW, 9 percent owned, on a line with Ryan Getzlaf, David Perron).
For additional waiver-wire options, check out our article on replacing Malkin, who has the same eligibility as Seguin (C/RW).