More Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 8)

It sounds like David Krejci continues to be questionable with his lower-body injury, as he wasn't able to finish Friday's practice, which sheds some doubt about the Week Six opener against the Devils on Monday. Fortunately, the Czech forward has some time to rest, but this injury has already held him out for some time already at the beginning of the year and then again just recently, so it's a big concern going forward.  He will go back on the list as questionable, as we keep an eye on him.

The season has been incredibly unlucky for Benson, who has been suffering through injury, something that has been well-documented in the blog.  Since we won't know much more until Monday, unless the injury is significant and announced as so, he'll have to take this one day by day.

It sounds like Valeri Nichushkin is also quite doubtful for Saturday night, as the Stars prepare to face the San Jose Sharks at home. Nichushkin is another player that failed to make it through Friday's practice, dealing with his groin/hip problem.  In the morning, the Stars have recalled forward Curtis McKenzie, likely in the scenario that the young Russian cannot go, but that may not be decided until game time.  We'll have Nichushkin listed as questionable for the evening, possibly leaning towards doubtful.

Scott's team has been hanging around the middle of the pool, but hasn't seen the kind of luck that would lift him much higher.  The injury to Nichushkin is a good example of how much luck he has had, as he starts Saturday in 12th spot, 5 points out of the top 10, 18 points out of the money.

The Panthers are expecting to have forward Jonathan Huberdeau back in their line-up on Saturday afternoon, as the dynamic centre has been out for the last three games, due to illness. Huberdeau was close to returning on Thursday, but the team decided to keep him out, in an effort to try and get him back to 100%.

In eight appearances this season, Huberdeau has 1 goal and 1 assist for Clayton, not quite breaking out the way he was expected to early on.  If he is 100% today, maybe he can get back into the scoring column against the Flames.

A possible wrist issue could be keeping Bobby Ryan out of the Senators' line-up, as his presence at practice was hampered by an apparent injury, so we are keeping an eye on this situation. Nothing has been confirmed at the time of the post, but there were some suggestions that he may miss tonight's game against Winnipeg.  The last word from the skate was that he would be a game time decision.

Ryan will be listed as questionable for the pool's Ryan, who picked him in the 6th round (133rd overall), possibly making him into somewhat of a bargain.  Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case yet, as the Ottawa forward goes into Saturday, ranked 185th.

First off, it looks like Jake Gardiner will be good to go for the Maple Leafs, as he was skating on Saturday morning without issue, only a couple days after suffering a deep bone bruise after blocking a shot in the week. He appears to be probable for the game against the Rangers. On the questionable side, Phil Kessel did not skate Friday or this morning, as he missed bits and pieces of Thursday's 3rd period with an undisclosed injury.  After the morning skate, he is now listed as questionable.

Mike shouldn't be without a defenseman, while Tony could be without a forward... that's what we can take away from this morning's news.  Mike is trailing Tony by 9 points and could use the breaks to go his way.  Kessel could still play tonight, the Leafs could just be saving him for when they need him most.

It is going to be another busy day on Saturday, which gets started early on its 12-game schedule, as the Flames and Panthers will go in an afternoon matinee in the Sunshine State.  Kari Ramo has been tapped for Calgary, while Al Montoya is expected for Florida.  This doesn't work out to be a Leo vs Stuart match-up, which is bad for Stuart,  who is 6 points behind in the bottom half of the standings.

The projected starters in the morning sees five pool teams with both of their goalies starting, as Allan, Clayton, Grant S., Stacey M. and Wes could all possibly benefit from 120+ minutes in the crease.  Four out of the five teams are in the top 10 already, so the strength in the pool remain strong.

As per the projected starters, four goalies are non-pool keepers, which will keep some minutes out of the pool and there could be one or two more, given that these keepers are only projected and not confirmed at the moment.

Notable pool starters today include Anton Khudobin for the Hurricanes, as he'll match-up against the Capitals, who played the night before.  Khudobin will offer start to Ryan on Saturday.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.