Which NHL Teams Are Best or Worst Equipped to Deal with the Injury Bug?

If there’s one thing that’s assured in any NHL season, it’s the injury bug. 

No matter how hard players prepare for the year, there are always going to be individuals who are sidelined by damage done to their bodies, and the 2023-24 NHL campaign is no different. 

We haven’t got to the 10 percent portion of the year, yet teams are dealing with injuries to key components. Forwards Connor McDavid of the Oilers, Andre Burakovsky of the Kraken and Robby Fabbri of the Red Wings, and defensemen Brett Pesce of the Hurricanes and Jared Spurgeon of the Wild are the biggest names out of their team’s lineup for a week or longer. The challenge for their respective organizations is massive.

Which NHL teams are best equipped or worst equipped to cope with early-season injuries? Here are our picks:

Losing the best player in the world would leave a considerable void in any team’s lineup. But the Oilers have a slew of offensively productive forwards, including Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane and Zach Hyman, to hold down the fort while McDavid is gone. 

McDavid is projected to miss a couple of weeks, so Edmonton won’t have to suffer without him for a long stretch, but given the Oilers’ poor start to the season, their other top players must step up, not just on offense but on defense as well.

Edmonton needs to play much better – and they need to do so quickly. Their solid depth at forward leaves them no excuses not to. The Oilers’ offense has always been expected to carry the team through this season, and even without McDavid, they still should be a menace with the puck.

The Hurricanes came into the season with arguably the top defense corps in the league, but that group of D-men took a big blow when Pesce was hurt and knocked out of the lineup for two to four weeks. 

Pesce was averaging 19:21 of ice time per game, the fourth-highest mark among Canes blueliners. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour will now turn to veterans, including Dmitry Orlov, Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei and Tony DeAngelo, to pick up the slack in Pesce’s absence.

If any team could withstand the loss of a top-four D-man, it’s the Hurricanes. Carolina GM Don Waddell has stacked his defense corps for exactly this type of injury situation, so the Hurricanes can withstand the injury bug’s bites at this point.

The Kraken stumbled out to a 2-4-2 record, mostly because their offense generated the sixth-worst goals-for per game in the NHL, with 2.25. 

They need all the help they can get on offense, and losing Andre Burakovsky for six to eight weeks does not make life easier on Seattle’s forwards. Burakovsky is in the second year of a contract that carries a $5.5-million salary cap hit, and last season, the 28-year-old produced 13 goals in 49 games, so his presence would definitely help a thin group of quality forwards. His injury is on top of winger Brandon Tanev's lower-body injury, which is expected to keep him out for four to six weeks.

The Kraken will give opportunities to other younger players, and as we know from years of experience, younger players often struggle to adapt to hockey’s top league. So we don’t expect Seattle to somehow turn into a legitimate menace with the puck. The Kraken need to improve their defense to have a shot at winning more often than not.

Losing Wild captain Spurgeon to an injury in the pre-season is a significant blow to Minnesota’s game plan for success. 

The 33-year-old Spurgeon is no longer one-half of the Wild’s top pairing on the back end – that honor goes to veteran Jonas Brodin and budding young star Brock Faber – but Spurgeon averaged the second-most time on ice last season (21:49), and his contributions are key to the Wild’s chances of thriving in the win/loss columns.

Spurgeon is the most senior member of Minnesota’s defense corps, and the Wild’s depth on ‘D’ is not impressive. Their 4.43 goals-against average thus far is the NHL’s worst, and it’s unlikely their offense – averaging 3.86 goals per game – will be able to bail out their porous defense night in and night out. They need Spurgeon back as soon as possible, as they don’t have the depth to sustain them as a playoff contender.