Bad Break for Alfredsson

Another huge loss has befallen the Ottawa Senators, right smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season. The team is already without Jason Spezza for the long-term and now the Senators will be without their captain, Daniel Alfredsson for up to six weeks with a shoulder separation. Obviously, there isn't a good time for this kind of injury, but even with the loss of Spezza, the Senators have been playing with more energy, which has kept their results in good shape, including the first game without both players, a 3-2 shootout win over the Sabres.

Alfredsson was reportedly injured in Wednesday's game against the Penguins, which the Sens lost 8-2. He leaves the line-up as the team's leading scorer, having 9 goals and 22 assists in the first 37 games of the season.

It's going to be interesting to see how the Senators fill out the position of leadership and another top line player for this next 6-week segment, especially as the team finishes Saturday night in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, only two points ahead of the Rangers, who are in 9th.

Well, the Draft implications could be pretty big. Alfredsson is a 4th round pick of Wes' this season, which means there is a lot of emphasis on that pick doing well. Wes currently sits in the money in 2nd, 1 point ahead of 3rd place, Dale C., 9 points up on 4th place Wayne. Six weeks without Alfredsson could be that 9 points and a little bit more, which could hurt Wes here right away. Wes unofficially sits 9th in the jersey ranks as well, 42 points out of that race in this second segment.

On the Sheet, Alfredsson was put in the top forward box in the Eastern Conference, meaning he had little chance of being picked and that he wasn't picked at all. So, no implications here at all.