Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 9)

Leading off three days worth of updates, the Buffalo Sabres learned the fate of defenseman Tyler Myers on Monday, as he was suspended for three games for a high hit over the weekend.  As of Thursday morning, Myers has yet to serve a game, as Tuesday night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed, due to weather.  Myers will begin to serve his suspension on Thursday night, as the Sabres play the Panthers and he will not be eligible to return until Wednesday, January 15th, with the Sabres in Toronto.

Benson continues to hold steady in 12th place in the standings, through Wednesday night's action, and will now be without Myers for the rest of the week.

The New York Islanders, on the shoulders of Evgeni Nabokov in net, were really starting to make a run in the end of December and into the New Year, but a lower-body injury, suffered on Monday night against the Dallas Stars, has the team holding their breath a little, as Kevin Poulin takes the reins again. Nabokov was immediately placed on the Injured Reserve after the game, likely meaning that the injury is serious and he will miss at least this week and likely more time next week.

The strength of Leo's team was coming from his goaltending at the start of the season, but Nabokov has not been very reliable, health-wise, which has cost Leo this year.  His team stands in 21st place, primed for a good pick in the second Waiver Draft, but that's not where you want to be at this point in the year.

It seemed rather likely that the news that San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture had to undergo hand surgery this week cost him his Olympic spot on Team Canada.  Couture had reportedly been dealing with the injury for some time and surgery was an eventual option for the scoring winger.  It may have been that he wanted to get surgery done, to be ready for the Olympics, but unfortunately, the team didn't see it that way and went in a different direction.  Couture is now expected to be out for the next four weeks, recovering from surgery, which will only help the Sharks now.

Four weeks from surgery means that he will miss the first couple of weeks of the third segment, not to mention the last couple weeks of the second segment.  Dale B. currently sits in 19th place in the standings, only a couple points out of 17th.  He'll need all the help he can get to work his way out of the basement in the final 10 weeks.

On Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins were without forward Milan Lucic, as he dealt with a bout of the flu.  The Bruins were starting their 3-game trek through California on Tuesday, opening up against the Anaheim Ducks and I would imagine that Lucic should be good to go for their game against the Kings on Thursday night.

This should only be a small hiccup for Stacey C., who finished up Wednesday night in 4th place, 4 points out of 2nd.  Stacey also sits 16 points out of the second segment lead, so if Lucic can return for tonight, there is an outside shot at a jersey win.

On Monday night, New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo had to miss out on the game against the Dallas Stars, due to the birth of his first child, but he returned on Tuesday night, for the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he scored a goal in celebration of his child and his return.

The hottest team in the hockey pool right now, which belongs to Derek Wilton, had a little bump in the road, missing out on a game from Okposo, but they continue to roll any way.  They are in the race again for the Mover & Shaker in Week Fifteen with 12 points through Wednesday, sitting in 6th place overall and 2nd in the second segment standings, only 5 points out.

In a bizarre event, Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O'Reilly suffered a shoulder injury in a goal celebration on Tuesday night.  His current listing on the injury/news page is day-to-day with the shoulder ailment.  He missed out on Wednesday night's game against the Senators and will be questionable for the team's game at home to the Islanders on Friday.

It has not been a good second segment for Allan, who won the first segment, as he dropped from 1st place in the pool, down to 9th, through Wednesday's games.  Allan will need a boost to his roster in the second Waiver Draft and quickly.

There is another quick out and right back in story over the last few days, as the Montreal Canadiens roster shuffle included defenseman Rafael Diaz, who sat out on Monday's game against the Panthers, sitting as a healthy scratch, but was able to return for Wednesday night's game against the Flyers.  Not much to see here, really.

Diaz belongs to the 2nd place team, which belongs to Chris, who has been floating along just fine and not making too much of a bother in the standings.  Diaz hasn't been very productive for him, so he really didn't miss out on much with this healthy scratch.  He is a definite possibility to get moved in the second Waiver Draft.

The Nashville Predators appear to be looking towards life without forward Patric Hornqvist for the foreseeable future, as the Swedish forward left the game on Tuesday with a lower-body injury. It sounds like he will be doubtful for tonight's game, home to the Anaheim Ducks, but will be listed as out day-to-day.  The Predators are falling away from the Western Conference Wild Card race, so they may need Hornqvist back as soon as possible to help salvage their season.

Stuart is trying to salvage his season, by getting nice and close to his competitors with a Mover & Shaker-type week, just before the second Waiver Draft.  Stuart sits in 23rd, but only 4 points out of 22nd and he is tied for top spot in the weekly race with 14 points, through Wednesday.

Finally, there is an update to the upper-body injury that Philadelphia Flyers forward, Matt Read, is suffering from.  The Flyers have announced that Read is suffering from concussion-like symptoms and that he is expected to miss some more time with the issue.  Read is expected to miss the next couple games, at least, with the very real possibility of more time after that.  The Flyers and their history with concussions is a rather checkered past, so hopefully they'll take care of Read a bit better than players previous.

Not good news for Mike S., who sits in 13th after Wednesday night's action, only 6 points out of the top half of the pool.  Read is his only major injury at the moment and may be in consideration for the swap when the second Waiver Draft comes around next week.  I don't think Mike is out of the race for prizes yet, so this is a big decision next week.