We've had no shortage of injuries to begin the NHL campaign, but two of the most significant so far have come in the past few days. Two players among the top 25 fantasy contributors are down for the count. That means fantasy owners have very big holes to fill and that some NHL players have some very big opportunities.

Patrick Sharp, F, Chicago Blackhawks: Sharp, especially loved by his fantasy owners because of his shooting, will miss up to four weeks after suffering a knee injury against the Montreal Canadiens. This leaves a gaping hole on the Hawks' offense, both on and off the power play. First, coach Joel Quenneville had already been running some new lines for the game with the Canadiens. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were paired on the top line with winger Ben Smith. Sharp was playing with Marian Hossa and Andrew Shaw. The injury to Sharp will bring Brandon Saad back out of the fourth-line doghouse for the time being and he'll probably skate with Hossa and Shaw. There is opportunity at even strength for Smith to continue to line up with Toews and Kane. Smith has had several cups of coffee with the Hawks, while developing an offensive game in the AHL during the past few seasons. He has the ability to score goals and, as would anyone sharing the ice with Toews and Kane, will get plenty of opportunities to score.

But there is another void still remaining. Sharp is the catalyst of the power play on the point. Brad Richards will have the chance to move up from the second unit and join Toews, Kane, Shaw and Duncan Keith. Richards has been a disappointment since failing to secure a scoring line role with the Blackhawks. But he still has managed six points in 13 games as a bottom-six forward. Adding first-unit power-play time could boost his numbers to the point of usefulness while Sharp is out.

Zach Parise, F, Minnesota Wild: Parise will miss an undetermined amount of time after being diagnosed with a concussion. This is just devastating for his fantasy owners, but more so for the Wild. The fantasy implications aren't as significant as they are with Sharp's injury, at least, not in a positive sense.

Thomas Vanek is forced to move up to the top line with Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville. While that move will kick-start Vanek's slow campaign (he had seven shots on goal Thursday), it will all but kill the fantasy value of any Wild forward not named Vanek, Pominville or Granlund. Mikko Koivu was having enough trouble carrying a line when Vanek added some depth to the forward group. If Parise's concussion lingers, Koivu, Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter are all off the peripheral fantasy starters list. We would suggest that Koivu still has some upside based on his power-play role, but the Wild have managed only two goals in 38 chances on the man advantage.

Looking for skaters

Montreal Canadiens: After a solid start, the Habs' offense has been pretty woeful of late. With just four goals in the past three games, the whole team could use a bit of a wake-up call. Luckily, the Forecaster thinks the Canadiens are in for a big week. Specifically, the Forecaster loves the Habs at home this season, where they have 16 goals in six games and all three of their power-play goals this season. Given the recent cold snap, you definitely want your wagon hitched to the only bright spot: Max Pacioretty. That also means using David Desharnais (available in 60 percent of ESPN leagues) or Brendan Gallagher (available in 30 percent), as they are skating next to Pacioretty. Deeper leagues could gamble that the second line of Tomas Plekanec, P.A. Parenteau and Alex Galchenyuk will snap their funk next week, but it would be speculative at this point.

New Jersey Devils: The Devils' offense may struggle through this weekend, but hope is on the horizon. The four-game schedule next week looks very positive for the Devils and, better still, the team could have some players back from injury by then. Mike Cammalleri, who started the season red hot before suffering a neck injury, is edging closer to a return with next week a distinct possibility. It's also hoped that current leading scorer Adam Henrique's lower-body injury won't cost him more than this weekend. Both players' health should be monitored on Sunday with an eye to starting them if we get good news. Otherwise, stick with the Devils you know -- Jaromir Jagr, Marek Zidlicky and Damon Severson -- in setting your lineup.

San Jose Sharks: The Sharks have a very favorable schedule this week, with games against the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes. Although all four games are on the road, there are enough good matchups in there (especially if Sergei Bobrovsky is still out) that you want a piece of the action. Tommy Wingels isn't really available anymore after his continued success with Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, but Matt Nieto hasn't caught on with fantasy owners despite playing with equally adept linemates in Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton.

This might also be an opportunity to have a look at rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller. He is still a few years from reaching his fantasy potential, but he is skating more minutes and is paired with defensive dynamo Brent Burns. Mueller doesn't have pure offensive instincts or a big shot, but neither does Duncan Keith and that hasn't hurt his fantasy value. Once Mueller is more experienced, he should be a fantasy regular thanks to his big minutes. For now, when the schedule looks good he might make a decent No. 5 fantasy defenseman for a couple of assists thanks to his accurate passing out of the zone.

Looking for goaltenders

Ondrej Pavelec, G, Winnipeg Jets: Last chance. He's still available in just under 5 percent of ESPN leagues and Pavelec is a bona fide No. 2 fantasy goaltender. The Jets have a relatively favorable four-game schedule next week. Get on board.

Steve Mason, G, Philadelphia Flyers: Nothing like the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers to boost the old confidence. It's actually a terrible week to start Mason, because the Flyers have only two games and they are back-to-back, but this is a chance to point out that he has rebounded somewhat and was dropped in about 20 percent of leagues. See if he is available now and stash him for the week after next.

Avoid if you can

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings have only two games on the docket and they are against Corey Crawford and Carey Price. Not exactly an inspiring matchup for the offense. That said, it's impossible to bench Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk, and it's tough to make an argument for doing so with Gustav Nyquist or Johan Franzen. Niklas Kronwall is also arguably a must-start player. So where does that leave you? Probably in the same place as when we started this paragraph. The bottom line is that this is not the time to prospect on Justin Abdelkader or Tomas Tatar and you can probably find a better option than Jimmy Howard in net.

Quick hits

• The return of Boone Jenner has thrown the Columbus Blue Jackets' offense for a loop. Jenner skated with Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson in his debut on Tuesday, but the game didn't go so well for the Blue Jackets. There will be continued tinkering to find the right fit. Suffice it to say, you want the players skating with Ryan Johansen. Stand firm with Nick Foligno for now, but wait to see how the depth chart develops from there.

• The return of Paul Stastny found him on a line with Joakim Lindstrom and Alexander Steen for the St. Louis Blues. It bumped David Backes to what is arguably the third line with Patrick Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin. Until further notice, the Blues' top line consists of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz. Let's hope coach Ken Hitchcock takes those other two lines and makes one better scoring line out of them soon. Is it a waste of a good centerman to have Stastny and Backes play together? Yes. Might it still work given the Blues' depth? It might.

• Who knew? It's Matt Hunwick you want to look at if the injuries to Ryan McDonagh and Dan Boyle continue to keep them away from the New York Rangers. Hunwick has five assists in the past four games, including a beauty on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings that showed off his vision on the ice when he found a streaking Martin St. Louis for a goal.

• Valeri Nichushkin and Sergei Gonchar are back from injury for the Dallas Stars, but neither appears to be a factor. Gonchar didn't sniff power-play time on Thursday and Nichushkin was on the second line on Thursday after debuting on the top line with a minus-3 in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Infirmary

Michael Raffl, F, Philadelphia Flyers: Wayne Simmonds replaced Raffl on the top line after it was determined the winger would miss six weeks with a lower-body injury. While Simmonds is already owned in 100 percent of ESPN leagues, Sean Couturier replaced Simmonds on the second line and scored a goal and had an assist on Thursday. Couturier may be a deep-league fill-in during Raffl's absence.

Daniel Winnik, F, Toronto Maple Leafs: Winnik was carted off moments into Thursday's game after an awkward collision. It's not clear if he is out for an extended period of time yet. Richard Panik replaced him on the top line with Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri, but is probably not a long-term solution. Look for a bigger shake-up that could affect the recent added value Kadri has received since being joined up with Kessel.