Injury Updates (Sep 19)

An injury update was provided for Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta at the beginning of camp and it is only partially good news, as he hasn't been cleared 100% as of yet, but he will take part in drills at camp and will be given limited contact.  Maatta has the potential to be a pretty popular defenseman at the hockey pool draft and it will be imperative that he gets a clean bill of health before he should be considered too high.  If he is still running through the drills with limited contact, I would imagine that his participation in preseason games will be very limited.  Stay tuned.

If you're going rookie hunting this year, you may want to keep an eye on Pittsburgh 2014 draft pick, Kasperi Kapanen, who has been given the green light for training camp.  Kapanen was dealing with a finger issue in the off-season, which kept him from rookie camp for the most part, but the team is saying that he can participate with the rest of the club in training camp and with a couple of spots open up front, he may be given that extra look.

It was reiterated on Thursday afternoon that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen will not likely take to the ice any time soon. Timonen is dealing with blood clots in his leg and the long-term prognosis isn't very good, but the veteran defender is not ruling out playing again.  The Flyers are going to be planning ahead without him and it looks like, as poolies, we should as well.  He will remain on the list as out indefinitely and his participation in the hockey pool may be better left to this year's Waiver Drafts, if at all.

The Bruins will have a couple players at less than 100% when they start skating in training camp this weekend, as Milan Lucic (wrist) and Gregory Campbell (torso) haven't been 100% cleared as of yet.  Lucic hit a career-best mark in forwards scoring reaching the top 50 in 2014 and he should be a reasonable player for your pool team in 2015, but the Bruins will likely not rush him back into the line-up, especially this early in the season.  Campbell, on the other hand, isn't likely to be a hockey pool player this season, but with depth being an issue up front, he may just slide into a better scoring role, once healthy.

As on-ice activities at camps open up on Friday, players start to go missing from those activities. In Flyers camp, Claude Giroux was being evaluated for a lower-body injury.  He'll be listed as being out day-to-day for the time being, as the update was quite vague, but being as though he has the potential for being a high 1st round pick in the draft, we'll be keeping an eye out on this one.

The Calgary Flames were missing a number of bodies on the ice, including one well-projected forward, a top prospect forward and a fringe defenseman. Centre Mikael Backlund was held out of on-ice activities with an abdominal strain, the number four pick, Sam Bennett, was out with a groin injury, while prospect defender Tyler Wotherspoon is dealing with a shoulder problem. All three players are considered to be day-to-day, but it isn't a great start for the Flames, who are in need of a big season to get the rebuild off on the right foot in 2015.

A couple of names missing from the ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, as forwards Tyler Bozak and David Clarkson were held off with undisclosed injuries. There was no immediate update from the club in the morning, so they will be listed as out day-to-day for the time being.  There is no need to panic here yet, but both are projected to be pool players this year, so they'll be watched closely.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.