Draft Player News (Dec. 4)

Early in the 3rd period of Saturday night's game against the Dallas Stars, the Islanders lost the services of forward Michael Grabner to a groin injury and the young speedster did not return to the game. There is supposed to be an update on Sunday, which will likely come in the afternoon, to which that update, if more serious than a day-to-day injury, will likely come on the weekly newsletter, that is published on Monday morning. With the Islanders up in the 3rd period, holding Grabner off the ice as a precautionary measure is certainly a likely scenario, but we'll wait and see.

Grabner hasn't quite had the same effect on the league as he did a season ago, having only scored 7 goals and 4 assists in 24 games for the club.  That's scoring under half a point-per-game and he currently ranks 233rd in pool scoring, so he has been somewhat of a disappointment this year, but the inconsistencies of the Islanders also haven't helped a great deal.

Stacey hasn't needed a great deal of consistency from Grabner to this point in the season, as he currently sits safely in 2nd place in the draft, as of Sunday morning, 16 points back of 1st place and 7 points up on 3rd.  He does have four potential games to be played before the end of the week and he has an outside shot at the Mover and Shaker, but it is exactly that, an outside shot.

After taking a hit from the Coyotes' Raffi Torres late in the 3rd period of the Flyers' game against the Coyotes on Saturday night, Andrej Meszaros left the ice favouring his left shoulder. There was no update in the game, since it came so late, but we should expect some kind of update on Sunday, as the team will likely hit the ice in some kind of capacity on a non-game day.  I'm sure the team is hoping for the best, as the injury bug has not been kind to them this season.

In 25 games this season,. Meszaros has been a steady defenseman for the club, but not quite the offensive force that drives the club, scoring 2 goals and adding 4 assists.  Currently, Meszaros sits in 392nd in pool scoring, which is fairly normal for defenseman, but among his blueline comrades, Meszaros ranks 88th, which would be considered the edge of worthy pool defensemen in a 22-team draft this year with four defenseman for each side.

The 26-year old Slovak belongs to Jani K. in the draft this season, who currently sits in 13th spot after Saturday's action, 34 points out of the money spots and he has made some good improvements to his side in the waiver draft this past week, so he could work his way in a little bit closer, especially if the injury news to Meszaros isn't all that serious.

As shown on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, Penguins forward Jordan Staal left the ice in their game against the Hurricanes after taking a puck to the face in the game. The puck had hit the forward up around the eye area, which is the greatest cause for concern, but the last word that was heard said it was just a pretty good cut around his eye and there was no other concerning damage around the area.  If there is any other serious update, it will be posted on the blog.

Staal went on a pretty good run in the early part of the season, but has since cooled down since the return on Sidney Crosby, but his numbers are still looking quite respectable.  In 25 games, Staal has 12 goals and 6 assists, which is still good enough for 90th overall in pool scoring.

In the draft, Wes M. continues to be unable to catch a break, as this is just another injury for his team to contend with and another injury he cannot really deal with, as Staal is such a valuable player that could be out for the short-term.  Wes has already used his two waiver draft picks and I don't think he would have considered a move of Staal any way.  Going into Sunday, Wes stands in 14th spot, 38 points out of the money.

An apparent shoulder problem was the reason that Washington Capitals forward Alex Semin was held out of the line-up on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators. Semin has been at the centre of plenty of trade rumours and speculation, so the wheels turned quite quickly upon the news that he was going to be a scratch on Saturday, but the team quickly moved to say it is actually a shoulder problem. All we can assume at the moment is that it is a day-to-day problem, but the last news byte I have seen says that he wasn't even taking shots in practice, which could mean he'll be out a little longer than a few days.

This season Semin has been a real disappointment, even by his lofty standards of being a disappointment over his career.  Only having 5 goals and 5 assists in 23 games this season, certainly doesn't sit well with the club or anyone counting on him for points, especially for the money that he is making this year.  Semin currently ranks 267th in pool scoring, which is quite poor, but his potential for scoring is so hard to bet against and it is understandable why he continues to be picked up.

If Semin was doing what he was supposed to, Dale C. would probably have a pretty good hold on 2nd place in the draft, but going into Sunday's action, he has the lead in a 3-way tie for 3rd place in the standings, still 7 points back on 2nd place.  It's a pretty good standing going into the first week with new waiver drafted players, so he cannot really complain.