Rivet to Undergo Shoulder Surgery

More news of going under the knife on Thursday morning, as Buffalo Sabres defenseman, Craig Rivet, will undergo surgery this week to repair a nagging shoulder injury. There isn't a great deal of details surrounding this injury or the surgery itself, but the Sabres do seem confident that Rivet will be at camp and ready to go, possibly a week or two late at the worst case scenario.

Rivet did not enjoy a very productive 2010 season, only scoring 1 goal and 14 assists in 78 games for Buffalo, which only ranked him 127th among all defensemen.  If we were to draft with 17 teams again in September, there would be a good chance that he would be skipped over and then had a look at for waiver draft purposes midway through the season. 

If his surgery is successful and he can return to 100%, he should get back to being in the top 100 in blueline scoring, if not a little higher.  Rivet has a career-high of 35 points and would play well as a good 3rd or 4th defenseman on a team in my draft pool.