Injury Updates (Sep 20)

Friday's opening session for the New Jersey Devils was a rough one for defenseman Jon Merrill, who had to be helped off the ice after a collision with pro tryout Ruslan Fedotenko in some drills.  There was no immediate update on the young blueliner, except the coaching staff didn't believe that the injury was going to be all that serious.  I'm sure there will be more updates down the line on him.  Merrill might end up being a really good pick up for a pool team this year, as his development has taken the long way to the NHL and it may just pay dividends this year.

There was a brief update on Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund on Friday afternoon, after the first training sessions of the camp. The abdominal injury that didn't allow him to participate in any on-ice activity will likely keep him out of action for about the next two weeks. The 25-year old Swede hit my injury prone list last Summer and he is already living up to the bill again for the 2015 season. I think you better be sure about what he is going to bring to the table before you consider drafting him this year, maybe saving him for a very late round sleeper.

The word out of Coyotes camp is that their top draft pick from June, Brendan Perlini, is dealing with a hand injury from the rookie camp and he hasn't been able to join his new teammates on the ice, as of yet.  I don't believe that Perlini is quite in the mix for a roster spot out of training camp, but us poolies won't be able to see him in the mix to gauge when he will be a part of the NHL roster, as long as he's injured.  There hasn't been any suggestion that the injury is serious, so we may see him back on the ice before too long.

Another injury to keep an eye on, despite the club saying that it isn't too serious, is Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray and his knee. Murray had off-season knee surgery and has been on a slow road to recovery, as the club has been dictating when the 20-year old blueliner can skate.  On Friday, it was mentioned that the team is pacing Murray, who played in 66 games for the club last season, and some days he'll skate and other days he won't.  Both Friday and Saturday were not skating days.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.