Expected Returns (Nov. 25)

The Edmonton Oilers are finally expecting to see defenseman Ryan Whitney back in their line-up on Friday night, after missing five weeks with a sprained knee, which was only initially scheduled to keep him out of the line-up for two weeks.  It may be fair to say that the Oilers may have missed Whitney in the line-up, as things haven't been too rosy for the team since his departure, dropping well down in the standings, so this could be the spark that they need.

In the draft, this could be a welcomed addition to Chris M.'s line-up, so has been missing him for over a month now.  At the time of the injury, Chris was in 16th spot, 20 points out of 3rd place and upon his return on Friday night, Chris now sits in 15th spot, 22 points out of 3rd place.  Okay, maybe he hasn't exactly "missed" Whitney, but he may be in a better position if the defenseman was active over the last month.  Inconsistent weeks at the top of the standings would likely be the reason why Chris has kept pace with the top three to this point.

This afternoon, the Islanders will give Al Montoya the start against the New Jersey Devils, marking his return from a hamstring injury, which officially put him on the shelf for over a week now.  Montoya was originally listed as a healthy scratch at the end of Week Six, but that turned out to be a bit of a lie, as the goalie suffered the injury around that time and was held out of the line-up, without much explanation and in a 3-goalie system, it didn't come as much of a surprise.  A few days later, he was placed on the injured reserve and has now been activated for Black Friday's game.

Montoya belongs to Peter H., who didn't have where he was in the standings measured at the time of the injury, but at the end of Week Six, he was in 13th spot in the standings and since then, he immediately dropped down to 18th spot.  Montoya was not the whole reason for the drop, as Peter has six players on the injury/news page and he is desperate for the waiver draft at the moment, just to get healthy again.