There were a couple of injuries to prominent fantasy goalies Tuesday which will have major implications to their owners.
Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings were each injured in the same game. Bishop left the game in the first period and was replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy; Howard left the game in the second period and was replaced by Petr Mrazek.
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Bishop will miss 3-4 weeks because of a lower-body injury. His numbers had been disappointing overall (2.79 GAA, .907 SV%), but he allowed two goals or fewer in three of five starts prior to his injury and was starting to play more like the goalie who was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season. With Bishop out, expect Vasilevskiy (59 percent owned) to get nearly all the starts - making him a must-add goalie in all formats. Since Vasilevskiy had two straight shutouts in November, he has allowed at least three goals in four of five starts. Still, his GAA is 2.41 and his SV% is .923. Vasilevskiy was already one of the top backups in the League prior to Bishop's injury, so now his stock rises even more.
Tampa Bay also recalled Kristers Gudlevskis (less than 1 percent owned) from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and he stands a chance to get a few starts with the Lightning having five sets of back-to-back games in the next four weeks. Coach Jon Cooper and the staff have always been very high on the high-end Latvian prospect.
Howard, 14th among goalies in Yahoo's performance-based rankings, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Howard would be out for a while. Jared Coreau (less than 1 percent) was recalled from Grand Rapids of the AHL, but isn't worth owning unless you're in the deepest of leagues. Howard has five wins in 13 decisions, but has a sparkling 1.96 GAA and a .934 SV%, among the NHL leaders in each category. Mrazek has a high ownership (72 percent) given how poor his peripherals have been this season; he is 9-7-3 with a 3.06 GAA and .899 SV%.
If you own Bishop or Howard, the best replacement option is Vasilevskiy, if available. If respectable starters like Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (53 percent owned), Peter Budaj of the Los Angeles Kings (68 percent) or Mike Condon of the Ottawa Senators (28 percent) are already owned, it may be best to invest in a high-quality backup or propose a trade to address your goalie needs.