By Jacob Messing

The Philadelphia Flyers have lost 10 straight games, the Metropolitan is demolishing the Eastern Conference, and the two types of injuries are flaring up.

Hot Topic: Ducks Get Their Center

General manager Bob Murray believes his Anaheim Ducks are Stanley Cup contenders, and he should. The Ducks have finished first in the Pacific Division in each of the past five seasons followed by early postseason exits.

With top centers Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler out, Murray couldn’t afford to patchwork a roster in their absence. Instead, he shipped out defenseman Sami Vatanen to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi.

Henrique, 27, is filling in nicely with a goal and an assist in two games and will be surrounded by some of the best linemates in his career for the foreseeable future.

Star Of The Week: Blake Wheeler

4 GP | 2 G | 8 A | 10 pts. | plus-4 | five power play points

Wheeler led all players last week with 10 points. He’s grown into one of the best two-way wingers in the league and is on pace for 107 points.

Wheeler is, however, likely to tally his third-straight 70-point season for a Winnipeg Jets team that was only missing steady goaltending, which it has finally found in Connor Hellebuyck.

But back to Wheeler: he and Mark Scheifele have created one of the league’s best duos. After a slow start, they’ve caught fire in recent weeks.

AHL Call-Up To Watch: Marcus Score-And-Some

The San Jose Sharks recalled Marcus Sorensen Saturday, a player bound to see action Monday with Joonas Donskoi on the IR. Sorenson, 25, was drafted in the fourth round by Ottawa in 2010 and saw his first bit of NHL action last season with the Sharks.

The undersized Swede played in 19 of the Sharks final 29 games last season, during which time he scored a goal and four points. He also played in all six playoff games for San Jose, posting another goal and assist with a plus-one rating.

Sorenson has five goals and 14 points in 17 games with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate — the San Jose Barracuda — a mark tied for the team lead with Rudolfs Balcers.

This is largely due to the fact that teammate Daniel O’Regan (a former Call-up to Watch) has remained with the Sharks, where he has tallied four assists in seven games.

 @91Tavares
 @leeberr09
 @aladd16 #Isles #VANvsNYI pic.twitter.com/Tf8EEX3SRL

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 29, 2017

Fantasy Player To Add

Andrew Ladd | LW | New York Islanders

Once a must-own, cross-category guy, Ladd had an abysmal year a season ago, his first with the Islanders. I won’t get into how bad; let’s just say a couple goalies actually out-assisted him per 60 minutes.

But the 34-year-old has turned it around and owns seven goals and 13 points in 25 games on a second line with rookie of the year candidate Mathew Barzal and a returning-to-form Jordan Eberle in his first season with the team.

Ladd still covers every category well (especially in hits leagues) and is heating up with four goals and seven points in his past nine games. He remains available in a whopping 93.6 percent of leagues and plays four times this week, including a back-to-back set on Monday and Tuesday.

Game To Watch

Winnipeg Jets at Tampa Bay Lightning

Saturday, Dec. 9, 7 PM EST

The best in the west meets the beast in the east. Two high-scoring, strong defensive teams with young blossoming goaltenders go head-to-head in this week’s Game To Watch.

The NHL’s top two scorers in Nikita Kucherov (38 pts.) and Steven Stamkos (37 pts.) take on another pair of linemates that also sit in the top-five in scoring in the aforementioned Wheeler (35 pts.) and Scheifele (34 pts.).

Both teams boast strong offensive depth even after their top lines and both are playing like legitimate Cup contenders. It’s a game that’s destined to be skilled, fast, and fun. While it could finish 8-7, Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck could also turn it into a 1-0 final.

Injuries: Let Me Guess . . . Upper-body?

Quick hit: Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock recently called for transparency with injuries, stating the media analyzes game tape and discover the injury itself, so he likes to get it out there to save everybody time. The upper-body/lower-body teams don’t feel the same. Anyway, here’s your injury report.

Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell was placed on the IR with an upper-body injury.

Arizona’s Niklas Hjalmarsson wound up back on the IR with an upper-body injury. Antti Raanta is on the IR with an upper-body injury.

Boston’s Jake DeBrusk has been placed on the IR with an upper-body injury.

Calgary’s Kris Versteeg will undergo hip surgery, a timeframe for his return is unclear.

Columbus’ oft-injured Ryan Murray landed on the IR Saturday with an upper-body injury.

Dallas’ Martin Hanzal was placed on the IR with a hamstring ailment.

Edmonton’s Adam Larsson was placed on the IR Friday, but is expected back within a week.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Florida’s Evgenii Dadonov has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a shoulder injury.

Los Angeles’ Andy Andreoff has been placed on the IR with an undisclosed injury.

San Jose’s Tim Heed and previously mentioned Donskoi were placed on the IR Saturday with undisclosed injuries.

Edmonton’s Cam Talbot is expected to miss at least two weeks with an upper-body injury.

Chicago’s Corey Crawford was placed on the IR with an undisclosed ailment.

Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon will miss at least two weeks with a groin injury.

New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Ottawa’s Chris Wideman will miss the next four to six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn hamstring.

Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter was placed on the IR with an undisclosed injury.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.