We're not even at Thanksgiving yet, and the list of players who have been injured and missed a significant amount of time reads like an All-Star game roster: Sidney Crosby, Tyler Seguin, Marian Gaborik, Jonathan Quick, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jack Eichel, Evander Kane, Matt Duchene, Seth Jones, Jonathan Drouin, Anton Stralman, and now the latest being Steven Stamkos, Johnny Gaudreau and Taylor Hall.

Now, some of those guys have since returned and some are still out. But the question remains: Are the injuries because of the compressed schedule?

The preseason World Cup of Hockey mixed in with the introduction of a five-day bye week in the second half this season has made this a crazy, crazy schedule.

"Definitely the condensed schedule and the competitiveness of the league, I think it has something to do with it," Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill said Thursday.

The Stars at one point or another have had injuries to six of their top-nine forwards since the start of training camp.

"You're going to have injuries every year, but I would definitely say the condensed schedule this season and the competitive nature of the league are factors. Every night is like a playoff game, pretty much," said Nill. "The game has also never been faster."

Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, who again has to cope with life without Stamkos, had a theory about all the injuries.

"These players train hard. They’re in amazing shape. They work out year-round. They work hard all season on the ice, off the ice. I don’t know, does all that take a toll on their body?" wondered the Hockey Hall of Famer. "Their joints, their tendons, their ligaments, their muscles, aren’t getting enough rest? They put their body through a lot. It’s 11 months of hard work for them. It’s like they’ve become Ferraris. Ferraris are great, but they’re also finicky."

Yzerman also wondered about equipment, particularly with players breaking their hands: With gloves now superlight, are they protective enough? Skates are lighter too, but is that leading to more foot exposure and injuries?

Factor in the way blocking shots is now a must, and it adds up.

But in this particular season, with the condensed schedule, it’s all that much more accentuated, especially if players are tired and not playing at 100 percent on some nights.

Matt Murray avoided serious injury on Thursday but was injured at the World Cup. AP Photo/Nick Wass

Bottom line? Get ready for the war of attrition with basically five games in eight nights all season long.

"I’ve talked to other GMs about this. I think we’re all going to need 27 to 30 players this year," said Nill. "It’s just reality. You start playing four games in five or six nights, with all the travel, it’s going to be tough."

It's exactly what Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi told me last week when we chatted about the Quick and Gaborik injuries. Lombardi went into this season before all of this happened expecting this to be an injury-filled season around the league.

"You looked at it, and you knew it wouldn’t be easy," said Lombardi. "Not only are your best players at the World Cup, and anything can happen there, obviously Dallas got hit and we got hit. And that’s the thing about Quick. His thing actually was tweaked at the World Cup. Then you lose Gaborik and everything else. But the other thing is, the schedule gets condensed. It’s the same for everybody."

The NHLPA negotiated the five-week bye week last season as part of accepting the 3-on-3 All-Star format for Nashville. At this point, it’s for this season only, unless the NHLPA can negotiate it for next season as part of the All-Star format for the game in Los Angeles this season. But I suspect at this point, any negotiations involving the league and NHLPA will come back to the Olympics too. Lots going on right now.

Most players seem thrilled with the five-day bye week so they can rest their bones in the second half. Yes, it means more games in a compressed manner, but I suspect the way some players look at it is that more games in fewer days also means fewer practices. So there’s that.