Even More Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 7)

The New York Islanders were saying all camp that Anders Lee was having a good one and that he was going to be an Islander for a long time, but the numbers just didn't add up for him on roster cut day.  Lee was sent down with defenseman Ryan Pulock, shaving down the Isles roster down to the maximum of 23 players.  Being one of the last ones cut usually means you'll be one of the first to get called up, but that will be little solace for the games that are lost at the beginning of the season.

This is an unlucky turn for Tony, who took Lee with a preseason Waiver Draft move, dropping Boone Jenner of the Jackets.  A minors demotion is not eligible for the waivers process, but I would imagine Lee will be up before too long, but where he fits in the line-up will be another question all together now.

In Chicago, the 23-man roster has been set, but there is a new injury concern for the Blackhawks, as forward Kris Versteeg suffered a lower-body injury.  The team has released a statement that Versteeg will be evaluated on Wednesday, but it did not look good... whatever that may mean.  A trip to the IR?  Maybe the LTIR?

When it rains, it pours for our unluckiest of teams in the hockey pool this year.  I am kind of getting tired writing Allan's name in the blog, but it keeps coming up.  Versteeg is also a Waiver Draft claim this week, yesterday to be exact.  This is an injury, so there would be reason to drop him, if necessary.  Trying to setup a healthy roster has been tricky for our champ.

The Anaheim Ducks will start Dany Heatley on the Injured Reserve this week, retroactively to the end of September, unclear of when he is going to return.  The initial reports were saying that he would only be out for about a week, but that has now been eclipsed and a trip to the IR suggests that he could be out for a little while longer.  With the 23-man rosters needing some sort of finalization, Heatley's placement does open up a roster spot for the time being and if he can't go in the first game or two, someone else can at least be at the rink for insurance purposes.

Stacey C. was already on the light side of projected games in Week One, but the loss of Heatley to the IR means that those games get taken off for the time being, which drops him down to 26 games through Sunday's action.  Only Benson has less games projected for the week, which doesn't necessarily mean he'll finish near the bottom of the points for the week, it just means he has less chances to get points.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.