Sheet Player News (Nov. 18)

The Boston Bruins had a couple of new scratches on Thursday night for their game against the Blue Jackets, as Jordan Caron, a Box 25 forward, and Johnny Boychuk, their Box 29 defenseman, were both held out of the line-up. Caron came out for the return of Dan Paille, while Boychuk was scratched due to flu-like symptoms.  I would imagine that Caron will be sent back down to the minors, if he doesn't find his way back into the line-up right away, while Boychuk likely isn't going to be out for too long.  Neither player has been very good for the sheet pool this year, so do try to avoid.

The Carolina Hurricanes do not have a great deal of patience for a lot of their younger talent, unless they are going to rip up the league like Jeff Skinner. Box 25 forward Zac Dalpe is the next youngster to fall out of favour, now having played nine games for the Hurricanes to this point and has yet to register a point, so he's off to Charlotte to play with the AHL affiliate for a while.  I know he has been taken at least a couple times in the pool this year, so there should be some consideration as to whether or not he should be dropped and I say, yes.

A couple of healthy scratches from the Columbus Blue Jackets to report, as Box 8 forward Matt Calvert and Box 14 defenseman John Moore were the next couple players to find the press box, as the team struggles to find any kind of success in this 2012 regular season. Calvert has 3 assists in 12 games, while Moore has 1 goal in 10 games for the club, neither have wowed anyone, so it isn't like they were terribly missed on Thursday night.  Both players have plenty of potential to burn, but it doesn't look like it'll happen any time soon.

An injury update to Box 14 defenseman for the Oilers, Cam Barker, as his ankle injury is far more serious than originally thought and he has now gone under the knife to repair the issues. It is believed that Barker will be out three months after the surgery, which won't put him back in the line-up until the New Year.  Barker hasn't exactly been able to light it up for the Oilers this season, having only 1 goal in 12 games for the club this year, but this injury will certainly make people shy away from him this year.  If you have Barker in the sheet pool, now is a good time to get rid of him.

After returning from a stretch of time in the press box, Panthers rookie Erik Gudbranson found his way back up there as a healthy scratch on Thursday night. The Box 30 defender has yet to hit the score sheet and his all around game obviously hasn't done enough to keep him in the line-up each night, so there is some concern there. I would imagine that he will get more chances as the season rolls on, but the Panthers are now working as a club that will look to make noise and if they don't think they have a better chance to win with Gudbranson in the line-up, then he probably won't be.

It continues to be a rough season for Nashville Predators forward, Niclas Bergfors, as he hasn't been able to gain the full-time confidence of the coaching staff. The Box 8 forward was a healthy scratch again this season and will likely continue to be up and down from the press box all season long, so it is worth noting that he isn't the safest bet this year, up until he can light it up offensively for a few games.  The Predators could always use a little more depth scoring and if Bergfors cannot provide that, I don't think he has enough in his two-way game to make him an everyday asset.