As I mentioned yesterday, there were rumours circulating that Oilers star Ales Hemsky would require surgery to fix a shoulder problem. Well, these rumours were true and Hensky will miss the rest of the season. A hit from behind by Michal Handzus aggrevated a nagging shoulder injury, and Hemsky said he could no longer play with the pain.
This injury has far reaching fantasy implications, considering that Hemsky is far and away the Oilers best player. Expect Dustin Penner to slow down a bit, and whoever plays center on the first line in the Gagner/Horcoff/Cogliano/Brule merry-go-round will not automatically get a fantasy boost. The one thing that I think this will actually improve is the PP. They run their PP through Hemsky way too much, and this will give Souray some more opportunities from the point.
If you have Hemsky on your fantasy team, I would not look for an internal replacement on the Oilers. No one else has his level of skill so you are better off looking elsewhere on the waiver wire. Pickings are probably slim but you should be able to find a guy like Kotalik or Okposo to tide you over.
I want to say stick a fork in the Oilers, but there could be some serious Ewing Theory at work here.
