Sheet Player News (Apr. 6)

The Boston Bruins have announced that Johnny Boychuk is out day-to-day with a mild knee sprain, which kept him out of Thursday night's game against the Senators and will definitely cause him to be out of Saturday's regular season finale against the Sabres. The real question today will be whether or not Boychuk will be ready to go for Game One of the opening round of the playoffs, where the Bruins will likely play the Senators. The Bruins will be a favourite team among many who will join the playoff pool this year and depending on the depth that participants think Boston will go, Boychuk could be a viable option to many.  Box 30 defenseman Adam McQuaid returned from his upper-body injury on Thursday night, but wasn't able to finish the game, citing that the injury may not have healed to 100% for his return.  He'll continue to be day-to-day, but he has no playoff pool value this year.

The Chicago Blackhawks have an injury to be mildly concerned about, you know, just like Jonathan Toews.  Key checking centre, Dave Bolland, missed Thursday's game against the Wild due to an upper-body injury of his own, which allowed for Brendan Morrison to get a little bit more ice-time before the end of the regular season.  Bolland is on the final road trip of the regular season with the team, which may suggest that his participation in the final regular season game is questionable, at best.  Bolland is also a popular option for the playoff pool this year, as the Blackhawks may get a lot of love from participants this year, unless Toews and Bolland have setbacks in their injury recoveries.

Detroit Red Wings Box 7 forward Dan Cleary was a late scratch on Thursday night due to a sore knee, something the team was going to be far more cautious of, given the time of year.  Cleary will also hold down the Box 7 position for the Red Wings in the playoff pool this year and he has been known to be a popular player too, given the parameters of the pool itself.  I would imagine his status for the team's last regular season game on Saturday will also be questionable, as they will go against Chicago on Sunday afternoon.  It looks like the Wings are not dropping any lower than 5th in the West, but they could get home-ice on the Predators, with a win and a Nashville loss.

Looks like a couple of playoff precaution healthy scratches for the Vancouver Canucks, as they sat Box 7 forward Manny Malhotra and Box 14 defenseman Chris Tanev on Thursday night for their game against the Flames.  Neither Malhotra or Tanev will feature in the playoff pool this year, depth got the best of them this year and their participation in the final regular season game of the year against the Oilers will likely be considered probable, given they were scratches and the coaches may want to sit someone else in preparation for that game.

A lower-body injury was the listed ailment for Winnipeg Jets Box 28 defenseman Ron Hainsey's absence from the line-up on Thursday night.  The Jets used absences of Hainsey and Randy Jones to give a couple of oft-scratched defensemen to get some ice-time in a meaningless game against the Islanders.  The Jets are not playoff-bound this year and they were not terribly popular in the selection sheet pool this year, but I would imagine that they may gain a little bit more favour at the beginning of the 2013 season after a pretty decent show in 2012.