Draft Player News (Jan. 8)

The Colorado Avalanche have suffered another injury, as defenseman Erik Johnson injured a hand in the 1st period of their game against the Blues.  There were no specifics on how Johnson suffered the injury, nor have there been any immediate updates on the injury, but once there are any updates that suggest that he'll be out longer than a game or two, he'll just be considered as out day-to-day.

Johnson has 16 points in 38 games for Derek W. in the pool this season, but Derek's season has likely fallen out of a real mention, as he now sits 104 points out of the money and another injury will not help his cause.

A freak accident on the ice during the game between the Oilers and the Stars saw Jordan Eberle leave the game with an apparent knee injury.  Eberle had his skate caught in the feet of Jamie Benn early in the game against Dallas and he had to leave with the injury and he will now be re-evaluated when the team touches down in Edmonton this week.  We'll probably receive word on his status on Monday.

This is not good news for Stacey C., who has been riding Eberle to the top of the heap this season.  Eberle is having a whale of a season, scoring 17 goals and 26 assists in 41 games, ranking just outside of the top 10 in pool scoring after Saturday's action.  If this is a significant injury, Stacey will lose a huge piece of his offense, which has him in the money at the moment.

A lower-body injury claimed a game for Pierre-Marc Bouchard and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, as the centre was unable to join his team on the ice for their game against the Flames.  Reports suggest that Bouchard has been unable to skate with the club in the latter half of the week, so his absence didn't come as a big surprise to the team.  There is no timetable for his return to the line-up at the moment, but he'll still be day-to-day for right now.

More bad news for Derek W., who can't seem to catch a break with his team.  Two injury notes on the same day doesn't help his cause much.  He was still able to post 18 points in the week, which pulls him up on the bottom spot in the pool, as of Sunday morning, but that's about the only solace he can find at the moment.

Getting submarined by Bruins forward Brad Marchand saw Canucks defenseman Sami Salo go ass over tea kettle in the afternoon Stanley Cup Finals rematch. Salo suffered an upper-body injury, which could be anywhere between a head injury to a shoulder injury at the moment. Salo will be evaluated for a concussion and some more details will likely be disclosed before the team's next game, Monday in Florida.

Salo has been having a pretty good season to this point, scoring 6 goals and 10 assists in 38 games, which has been cashed in on by Dale C. in the draft this year.  Dale's draft team has a very impressive defense corps, picking up 73 points already this year, among the pool leaders.  One of the reasons he's currently holding a money spot, as of Sunday afternoon.

I think it kind of goes without saying, but since we're on the blog, it probably should be said.  Mike Green's stock in fantasy pools is sinking like a cinder block in a lake.  On Saturday night, he left the Capitals' game against the Sharks in the 2nd period when his wonky groin acted up again.  Green has been dealing with lower-body issues all season long and has been limited to only 10 games this year.  Surprisingly, Green didn't hit my injury prone list this year, but in the off-season, he'll be a sure bet to be a new addition to the list.

Unfortunately for Leon G., he is finding this out the hard way, by having him on his pool team.  Green was only in his second game back from his last stint on the shelf and I would guess that he will be on the shelf for a while again, trying to be careful with his injury.  Leon currently sits in 17th spot in the standings, falling further and further from the money and I don't think he'll be able to recover now.