Panic Meter for 8 NHL Teams Dealing with Injuries to Key Players

We're two weeks into the 2025-26 NHL season, and we're already seeing some incredibly tough news on the injury front.

Stars like Brady Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Anze Kopitar, and Jaccob Slavin are all dealing with some sort of injury. Goaltenders like Adin Hill and Jacob Markstrom have been hurt, and plenty of key depth players or potential breakout candidates have suffered early tweaks.

Which teams are actually in trouble, here? Let's examine the severity of injuries, context, and the depth of eight NHL teams dealing with injuries to see if we can avoid hitting the panic button.

Injury list courtesy of Puckpedia and current as of Thursday, Oct. 16

Notable Injuries: Josh Norris (week-to-week), Mattias Samuelsson (day-to-day), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (day-to-day)

We're always at least mildly panicking about the Sabres as a baseline, right?

Add an injury to a player that was supposed to be the first line center in Josh Norris, an injury to top six forward Zach Benson (who returned against the Senators), an injury to No. 1 goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and an injury to defensemen Mattias Samuelsson, and you're in deep trouble.

The thing is, Norris' injury history indicated that a stint on IR was likely -- you had to know that going in. Benson is already back, and Samuelsson and Luukkonen are only day-to-day.

Norris already starting off with an injury when he is a huge part of the plan is a concern, no matter how you slice it, so we aren't hitting the panic button, but we're worried.

Panic meter: Some panic

Notable Injuries: Jamie Benn (week-to-week), Matt Duchene (day-to-day)

The Stars are a team built on depth and a "no passengers" mentality, so the injuries to two veteran leaders who provide a lot of that depth and vision really sting.

Still, it's allowed the youth movement to gain some confidence and step up: Thomas Harley has six points in four games, and Wyatt Johnson has four goals and five points. Plus, mainstays like Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen look great.

Let the veterans rest for a minute while the productive core establishes itself.

Panic meter: No Panic

Notable Injuries: Aleksander Barkov (month-to-month), Dmitry Kulikov, (month-to-month) Matthew Tkachuk (month-to-month), Tomas Nosek (month-to-month)

You look at all those "month-to-months" listed and you see the wear-and-tear that comes with the glory of winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. The Panthers started just fine without multiple key players, but the long-term loss of their first-line center, Aleksander Barkov, and their skilled spark plug, Matt Tkachuk, has already taken a toll as they've dropped to a 3-3 record with some weird losses.

Some lulls and slumps were inevitable as the Panthers recover from their latest Cup win, but we're starting to wonder if they'll be able to put their feet on the gas at the perfect time, like we're used to, without two of their most important players.

Panic meter: Some panic

Notable Injuries: Anze Kopitar (day-to-day), Darcy Kuemper (day-to-day), Corey Perry (day-to-day)

The Kings were already a bit of a mess coming off another first-round exit and a confusing offseason full of "two-steps behind" type moves. Their defensive unit is nowhere near as good as it was last year and is being exposed early on.

Then we got the alert that Corey Perry was hurt before the season even started, and the vibes went south. Now, Anze Kopitar is dealing with an injury on his farewell tour, and the man holding it all together in net, Darcy Kuemper, is out.

Granted, these are all minor injuries, but the vibes are definitely off for the 1-3-1 Kings.

Panic Meter: Major panic

Notable Injuries: Evgenii Dadonov (week-to-week), Jacob Markstrom (week-to-week)

We were all looking to the Devils for a comeback season after an injury-riddled 2024-25 held back a roster with tons of potential. One of those injured players was goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who was having a great first season as a Devil and finished with a great postseason run despite the team's overall weak first-round exit.

It's a shame Markstrom is injured again, and given New Jersey's history in this window, it's concerning. But if any squad is battle-tested enough in this situation to pull through, it's the Devils. Hey, at least it's not the entire defensive core and the star center this time, too.

The Devils should feel relieved they managed to bring back Jake Allen, who secured a win against the Panthers on Thursday with a .955 save percentage.

Panic meter: Some panic

Notable Injuries: Carson Soucy (day-to-day), Vincent Trocheck (week-to-week)

The loss of a player like Vincent Trocheck is pretty significant on a team coming into this season with major changes. Trocheck's ability to ground the team around him is pretty underrated, and it's exactly what the Rangers need at a time like this.

We expected some early growing pains with this Rangers team, but morale is taking a hit during this three-game losing streak. Losing the offense that Trocheck brings to New York for seven more games is going to be rough.

That being said, having Trocheck out at center and Carson Soucy on defense creates opportunities for the younger players to step up. Might as well see what they're made of early on.

Panic meter: Some Panic

Notable Injuries: Brady Tkachuk (week-to-week)

There comes a time in every young playoff team's lifespan where you really see what the team as a whole is made of. Usually, it's a long-ish term injury to a major player, and that's what we've got here with the Ottawa Senators.

It's been an up-and-down start to the season for the Senators, who are 2-3-0, and now they've lost captain Brady Tkachuk for six to eight weeks after thumb surgery. You obviously never want to see an injury, but the fact that this happened so early and Tkachuk was able to get surgery is encouraging for the rest of the season when the stakes are higher.

Meanwhile, Shane Pinto has emerged with a league-leading six goals. We're not saying losing Tkachuk isn't concerning, but the opportunity for other Senators to step up and provide much-needed scoring could be a long-term plus.

Panic meter: No panic

Notable Injuries: Noah Hanifin (day-to-day), Adin Hill (day-to-day), Alex Pietrangelo (out for the season)

People may have underestimated the impact on this roster of Alex Pietrangelo stepping away from hockey for the season due to prolonged hip issues. He led the Golden Knights in time on ice for five straight seasons and held the defense together through many changes. Now the defense is looking even thinner with Noah Hanifin out, and it has exposed a potential lack of defensive depth. Meanwhile, it looks like Vegas is using Adin Hill's injury to sign Carter Hart, who hasn't played in the NHL in years.

The Athletic's Jesse Granger reported that Hill's injury is a result of a puck hitting him awkwardly and not a tweak of any sort, so that should give Golden Knights fans some relief.

In any event, the Golden Knights are sitting atop the Pacific Division, even with two overtime losses. We're concerned about the defensive depth overall, but with Hill back on the ice, things are looking pretty good.

Panic meter: Some Panic