Draft Player News (Feb. 16)

During the 1st period against the Canucks, Avalanche starting goalie J-S Giguere removed himself from the game suddenly, forcing Semyon Varlamov to come into the game in relief, all due to a minor groin injury.  Giguere has had plenty of problems with his groin over the past few seasons and it appears to have flared up on him, forcing him out of the game.  In the post-game pressers, he had said that the injury was minor and will be considered day-to-day.  Giguere's status will be very important to the Avalanche, who are in the mix for the playoffs and may have lost their number one goalie going forward.

Giguere has been pretty good for Darren S., since being picked up in the first waiver draft of the season, as the gap between himself and 21st has now shrunk down to only 6 points, which had a gap of over 20 points at a couple points during the season.  It has made the battle for last place a little more interesting.

The Edmonton Oilers played against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and they did so without young defenseman Corey Potter, who has been dealing with a minor groin problem over the last few days.  He had reportedly been having problems in practices leading up to the Leafs game and was deemed questionable for the game earlier on in the week, so I would say that he should be considered day-to-day for the time being.

As of Thursday morning, Wayne H. is hanging on to the last money spot (5th) with the tips of his fingernails, leading both Dale C. and Niesa S. by only 1 point, making this race all the more interesting.  Wayne should be getting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back soon and if Potter is not long on the injured list, he should be able to fight off his challengers, but if they begin to miss more time, it could really be difficult.

The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros appears to be questionable for tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres, as he is dealing with an upper-body injury. Meszaros appeared to have finished the team's last game, Sunday against Detroit, so it may be safe to assume he was injured in practice this week.  As of Thursday morning, it sounds like Meszaros is questionable to play tonight and if he doesn't, he'll be considered day-to-day, until otherwise noted.

It has been a rough few days for Jani K.'s blueline, which lost Carl Gunnarsson to an ankle injury and now Meszaros could be on the shelf for a bit.  Fortunately for Jani, his blueline can be carried the rest of his team at the moment, which leads the Week Twenty scoring in the draft with 20 points.