The NHL betting season has reached the one-quarter mark and we’ve seen some strange things. Top contenders like Detroit and Boston stumbled out of the gate while Colorado and L.A. saw their Stanley Cup odds skyrocket. Sometimes, a big reason for the change in a team’s status is injuries. Here are the five most important injuries to note so far this season; some are now healed but did major damage when they happened while some are wreaking havoc right now.

5. BOSTON: Marc Savard’s broken foot

The Bruins already lost Phil Kessel in a trade and Milan Lucic to a broken finger. When Marc Savard went down, the Bruins had to play for a month without their entire top line from a season ago. One of the league’s most underrated players, Savard is a scrappy, creative center who makes others around him better. He’s been back for two games and the Bruins’ have won four straight. Here they come.

Bettor need-to-know: Consider betting on the Bruins’ Stanley Cup futures now; their odds went down during their injury-affected slump, so you can get great value for them right now.

4. PITTSBURGH: Evgeni Malkin’s shoulder strain

Evgeni Malkin missed seven games with a shoulder strain and the effect on Pittsburgh wasn’t pretty. The Pens struggled without Geno and Sidney Crosby in particular failed to carry the team on his shoulders.

Bettor need-to-know: The Pens are a powerhouse with Crosby and Malkin in the lineup but still aren’t the deepest offensive team in the league. Be careful with their sportsbook odds if one of the Dynamic Duo goes down again.

3. DETROIT: Johan Franzen’s torn ACL and Niklas Kronwall’s sprained MCL

It’s been a turbulent season for the Red Wings. After his long-term injury, sniper Johan Franzen joined Marian Hossa (free agency), Jiri Hudler (free agency) and Mikael Samuelsson (free agency) on the list of departed Detroit scorers – that’s four of their top six goal getters from last season. Franzen’s power-play presence is sorely missed. Equally devastating for Detroit is Niklas Kronwall’s knee injury. Now that Nicklas Lidstrom finally appears to be in decline, Kronwall was taking over the primary minutes eater role.

Bettor need-to-know: The Wings are so disciplined and well-coached that they’ll find their way back to the playoffs but we should temper our expectations when they face powerhouses like San Jose or Chicago going forward. Detroit just doesn’t have the man power right now.

2. MINNESOTA: Martin Havlat’s strained hamstring

2009-10 looks like a disaster for the Minnesota Wild. Of all the times to let Marian Gaborik walk, they had to pick the first season in Wild history without Jacques Lemaire – the first season in which Minnesota made scoring a priority. They signed Martin Havlat to fill the void. Not only did he do nothing in his first 19 games, his perpetually nicked up body isn’t co-operating. He’s out with a strained hamstring that will likely nag him all year.

Bettor need-to-know: Who the heck will do the scoring for Minnesota now? Stay far away from Minnesota in your bets.

1. LOS ANGELES: Ryan Smyth’s “upper-body injury”

It’s strange for Smyth to top this list as he’s arguably the least-skilled player of the group, right? Let me explain. Smyth is an emotional leader – a guy everyone will follow into Hell. As a veteran acquisition, he had a huge early impact on the breakout Los Angeles Kings. He was scoring at over a point-per-game clip and really clicking with Anze Kopitar on what was the NHL’s best line for the first 20 games. His experience and leadership skills were rubbing off on his teammates. Now he’s out for a month and it seems the young Kings are a bit lost without him.

Bettor need-to-know: The Kings are still loaded with talent but they’ve lost six times in November after just three regulation losses in October. We should expect them to play up-and-down hockey until Smyth returns – like the Steelers do without Troy Polamalu in NFL betting.