Saturday, March 24, 2012

Sheet Player News (Mar. 24)

The Florida Panthers are inching closer to a playoff spot and the way the healthy scratches are going, they are banking on an appearance, saving bodies on a rotation a basis.  On Friday night, Marco Sturm and Mike Santorelli joined Keaton Ellerby in the press box as healthy scratches, while Wojtek Wolski and Shawn Matthias were back in the line-up after being healthy scratches earlier in the week.  These have all been regular bodies in the press box, so there is either some real discomfort in the line-up for the coaching staff that needs to be addressed or the team is really looking forward to a playoff push.  I would assume the latter.

Box 25 forward Mats Zuccarello's regular season has come to an abrupt end and depending on how long the Rangers last into the playoffs, his season may be over as well. Zuccarello suffered a fractured wrist in Friday night's game against the Sabres while blocking a shot and that will keep him on the shelf for quite a while.  I would expect the Norwegian forward to be out of the line-up for at least a month, which would mean the Rangers would make a quick exit from the playoffs, but jumping back into the line-up may be a bit of a trick, once the roster is rolling along.

The Ottawa Senators welcomed the return of Jason Spezza to their line-up on Friday night, after he missed a game with the flu, so it was a return to the press box for Box 20 forward Bobby Butler.  Butler has been scratched regularly by the Senators, so there was no surprise as to who came out of the line-up when Spezza returned.  It doesn't look like Butler will figure much into the Senators plans down the stretch, unless there are injuries to look after.  There isn't much fantasy value here in the last couple weeks of the season.

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