Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 5)

Well, it was a little bit of a day off from the blog on Wednesday, did not find the time or the patience to sit and hammer out a few posts. So this morning, it will be a catch-up post, with some updates that would normally get their own post, but I digress.  This will be your one-stop shop for all the pertinent information for what's gone on in the pool over the past couple of nights.

A lower-body injury has sidelined Waiver Draft pick-up, Mathieu Perreault, from the Anaheim Ducks line-up this week. It sounds like it could be a groin injury, as the complaints surrounding the injury are skating related. Perreault was placed on the Injured Reserve this week, which means that he'll be out for a minimum of seven days, which according to the schedule, should work out to be about three games.  That would put the pivot back into eligibility for the Wednesday game next week, home to the Wild.

Since the Waiver Draft, Perreault has played in four games for the Ducks, but has failed to register a point in those games, which leaves a big donut on Stuart G.'s team page.  In actual fact, both of his Waiver Draft pick-ups have failed to register a point since being picked up, which has failed to improve Stuart's team in the last 10 days.

It isn't quite fair to say that the Columbus Blue Jackets will go as far as their Vezina Trophy winning goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, will take them, as they are nowhere near a playoff spot today and he has played fairly well, but now that they face a few weeks to a month without him, it could go from bad to worse.

Bobrovsky is out for the next 3-to-4 weeks with a strained groin, sounding eerily similar to the injury that Jonathan Quick suffered earlier this season, which still has the Kings keeper out of the line-up.  This is taking 10 wins, 1 shutout and an assist out of the Blue Jackets line-up for the next month and the team really hasn't played all that well in front of him, so it will be a tough slog for a while.

This is another huge blow to our current pool leader, Allan S., who already had to give up his 1st round pick this year to the Waiver Draft and now he'll be without his 3rd round pick for a while too.  Amazingly, he still holds a 2-point lead in the standings, going into Thursday's action.

The Chicago Blackhawks have elected to send forward Brandon Pirri down to Rockford of the AHL for a little while, as the young forward has seemingly lost his way a bit over the last few games.  In 24 games with the Blackhawks, Pirri has 6 goals and 11 points, currently ranked 242nd in pool scoring, but he has been somewhat cold over the last little while.  Pirri will get a few games down there, likely to regain some confidence and should return sooner than later.

Not exactly what Dale C. was hoping to see in his line-up this week, as he battles to figure into the prize positions.  Going into Thursday's action, Dale sits in 7th, only 8 points out of 4th place, and could really use all the skater games he can get.  If Pirri can return soon with a bucket load of confidence, maybe the exercise won't be in vain.

And it may be that Pirri isn't gone for very long at all, as Andrew Shaw, another Waiver Draft pick-up this season, has suffered an injury, of which the nature is not known, and he has reportedly stayed home, as the team heads to Minnesota for a game tonight.  The Blackhawks did make some call-ups on Wednesday, likely knowing the news already, so they will have some fresh faces in their line-up on Thursday night.  Shaw will be listed as out day-to-day, until any further updates drop.

Shaw was picked up by Benson in the Waiver Draft and has been a welcome addition to his team.  In five games since the Waiver Draft, Shaw has scored 3 goals and added 2 assists, scoring at a point-per-game.  The addition of Shaw hasn't helped in the standings just yet, as he still sits in 12th, but he is closing the gap on the group of teams ahead of him.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced on Thursday morning that the most recent Player of the Week, for the past two weeks, Evgeni Malkin, will miss Thursday night's game against the San Jose Sharks.  It sounds as though Malkin may have hurt himself at the morning skate, but details are few and far between, but he will be listed as out day-to-day for the time being.  

It looks like Stuart's team is really making a push for the race for Steven Stamkos in the Week Sixteen Waiver Draft.  This is his second injury in this post and his 1st round pick is now on the shelf.  Stuart's team sits in 22nd, 14 points ahead of Doug K., who sits in the last spot in the standings.

On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that centre Tyler Bozak was scheduled to have an MRI on an upper-body injury, which he suffered the night before against the San Jose Sharks.  Thursday morning, the team said that Bozak has suffered an oblique injury and will be out of the line-up indefinitely and he has been placed on the Injured Reserve.

With Bozak already missing time this year with a hamstring injury and now an oblique injury, he will receive some consideration for the injury prone list at the beginning of next season.

Bozak belongs to Brenda F. this season, who currently holds the jersey prize spot in the standings, 4th place, with a 6-point buffer to 5th place after Wednesday night.  Bozak has 11 points in 16 games for the Leafs this year, so it is a substantial chunk of offense coming out of her line-up.