Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 5)

There is some rumblings in Sabres camp that their number one goalie may not be feeling his best and this could be a huge concern going forward.  Buffalo management has come out on Saturday morning and said that Ryan Miller is nursing a lower-body injury, which isn't believed to be serious, but it will likely be something that keeps him from starting tonight, when the team heads to Pittsburgh.  The Sabres have Matt Hackett in at practice this morning and he has confirmed that he will back-up Jhonas Enroth thonight, which means Miller will be listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

I would think that the Sabres, especially this early in the season, will be trying to keep Miller from getting hurt for the long-term, but if they dress him, he must not be too injured.  This is something to keep an eye on.

Miller belongs to pool newcomer, Tony D., this season, who has yet to pick up any points from his number one goalie, in two appearances.  An injury in this case, would be devastating at the start of the year.  On the other hand, this is good news for Stuart, who is getting an early start from Enroth, something he probably didn't anticipate on right away.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were slightly shorthanded in their season opening game against the Calgary Flames on Friday night, as defenseman Fedor Tyutin was kept out of the line-up with a lower-body injury.  Tyutin suffered the injury at practice during the week and he will be listed as out day-to-day, but the coaching staff would not comment as to how long the Russian will be out of the line-up.  There was some suggestion that he might not travel with the team on this next road trip, but that hasn't been confirmed just yet.

It hasn't been the luckiest of starts for Leo M. this year, as he now has three players on the list with injuries, all of which have jumped up around the start of the regular season.  Leo has jumped up to 17th after a sluggish start and he still has lots of firepower to keep him in the mix.

Early word out of the Montreal Canadiens camp is that for precautionary reasons, forward Max Pacioretty will be held out of the team's game tonight, home to Philadelphia, due to an arm injury.  Pacioretty reportedly suffered the injury against Toronto in the season opener, left the game briefly, returned to play, practiced during the week, but the coaching staff have decided to not take any chances with his health and will sit him.  Pacioretty will be considered out day-to-day.

Pacioretty belongs to Wes M., who goes into Saturday's action in 2nd place, only 2 points out of the lead and missing out on a body won't help him make any ground up.  Pacioretty was Wes' 4th round pick this year, 83rd overall, but was unable to register a point in his first game this year.

In Friday night's action, the Nashville Predators suffered an injury, as defenseman Roman Josi was hit by the Avalanche's Steve Downie, knocking him out of the game with an upper-body injury. There was no early indication on Saturday morning, as to how bad the injury is or what the nature of the injury is, so it's wait and see for right now.

Josi was going to be looked towards to provide some extra offense from the back end, after signing a very rich contract extension in the off-season.

In two games played thus far, Josi has failed to pick up a point for Wilton in the draft and this injury will compound on his team missing Tomas Vokoun to the blood clot.  I'm sure he's hoping for a quick return from this injury, as he currently sits in 22nd place.

This one was missed from Thursday night, as Matt Irwin was not one of those players I was trying to keep an eye on, but I remember now that I should.  Irwin, a depth defender for the San Jose Sharks, was not chosen for the opening night line-up, as they played the Vancouver Canucks and even with some injuries and other roster selections, Irwin didn't quite make it in.  It is hard to say right now what his participation levels are going to be like, all we can do is keep an eye on him.

It was a bit of a curveball from Ryan M. this year, taking Irwin, as he would count as a serious sleeper this year.  If Irwin can get into the line-up and capitalize on this serious Sharks offense, there will be points there.