Sheet Player News (Jan. 4)

On Wednesday, the Hurricanes have sent Box 25 forward Zac Dalpe and Box 30 defenseman Derek Joslin down to the minors. Dalpe was doing some injury replacement over the last couple of weeks for the Hurricanes, while Joslin was listed as a scratch over the last little while, but he may have been nursing a minor injury, which would explain the conditioning assignment he's now on.  Neither player has ripped it up with the big club this season, so they haven't been very popular in the pool this season, so it is only minor news at this time.

The upper-body injury that Senators defenseman Chris Phillips has suffered has been deemed a concussion and he will now join the list of players out indefinitely, because of the head injury.  The Box 29 defender was hurt in Monday night's game against the Devils.  The team says it is a mild concussion that the veteran suffered, which gives the impression that he could be back sooner, rather than later, but that is by no means guaranteed.  If you have invested yourself in Phillips, you may want to consider trading him away.

A lower-body injury suffered at practice on Monday was enough for Lightning forward Ryan Malone to miss Tuesday night's game against the Maple Leafs.  Malone did reportedly skate on Tuesday morning, but was not able to go for the game against the Maple Leafs.  On Wednesday, Malone was ruled out of Thursday night's game, because of the same lower-body injury and there was no timetable for his return.  I think we can still consider him out day-to-day for now, but it must be disheartening for the Box 20 forward.