Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 17)

It's pretty rare to have a Notes post on the same day as the Newsletter, but there have been quite a few player updates on Monday and I have the day off from work, so it all works hand in hand, I guess.  Let's see what could have been added to the Newsletter, if I could have waited a bit longer before publishing.

The Columbus Blue Jackets had a couple of updates on Monday, one regarding their top scorer, Ryan Johansen, who is now questionable for Tuesday night's game against the Red Wings, due to a lower-body injury that he suffered on the weekend.  There is no guarantee that Johansen will miss any time, it's just worth the update, just in case.

The club also offered up an update on injured forward Brandon Dubinsky, who has yet to see game action this season.  Dubinsky has been on the IR after preseason abdominal surgery and is slowly getting closer to a return.  The team says he is both day-to-day and week-to-week, some days being better than others.  There is no imminent return planned, but we're keeping an eye on him.

Clearly, the big news is Johansen, especially since he belongs to our pool leader, Grant S..  The young Blue Jackets forward has been one of Grant's best players and one of the big reasons why he has leaped into the lead last week.  Dubinsky, on the other hand, belongs to Dale B., who was last week's Basement Dweller.  His return would mean good things for the now 14th place team.

An injury update, which isn't necessarily a return post, but it's close. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta will be a game-time decision, as he's pretty close to be given medical clearance to play, only a shade over a week since his surgery to remove a cancerous tumour.  The original timetable was thought that he would miss upwards of four weeks worth of action, so this is really good news for the Penguins.

This also good news for Cam, who was seeing some pretty good returns from the young Finn, 6 points in 10 games.  Maatta's return would get his team back in the swing of things and right back into the thick of the money race.

Another questionable injury situation, this time in Detroit, as the Red Wings are not sure whether or not Pavel Datsyuk will play against the Blue Jackets. His groin problems are acting up and the veteran forward didn't practice on Monday, fueling the speculation.  Even if Datsyuk was to miss the game, he would be listed as out day-to-day.

Datsyuk is one of Benson's injury problems this year, only having played 10 games for the Red Wings, picking up 11 points.  Benson won't be able to get out of the basement if he continues to have Datsyuk on and off the injury page.

The Toronto Maple Leafs updated the status of one of their pool players in Joffrey Lupul, saying that he is just over a week away from being ready to play again.  The oft-injured forward has been out since the end of October with a broken hand and it looks like he'll be coming back sooner than some may have expected from the injury.

The injury prone forward has only 3 points in nine games with the Leafs this season, which is a big reason why Brenda & Seward have yet to see much success in the hockey pool through six weeks.  He is one of three players on the injured list and will remain there for a little while yet.

The Philadelphia Flyers have upgraded the status of defenseman Andrew MacDonald, calling him day-to-day now with his lower-body injury. MacDonald has been out for the last few weeks and his timeline was in the 4-week range, so he is coming around at roughly the right time. The 28-year old blueliner may likely even dress this week for the team, having joined practice on Monday with the club.

This is more good news for Dale B., who could really use all the healthy bodies he can get after his Basement Dwelling week.  His team does have 37 projected games for the coming week, but he could find himself with a few more, if MacDonald gets activated from the IR.

There is some good news coming out of Los Angeles as well, as the Kings have announced that defenseman Alec Martinez is only likely going to miss one week's worth of action after suffering a broken pinky finger last week. Martinez was listed as out indefinitely, but the prognosis was upgraded on Monday.

Brenda & Seward are getting some more finite news on their line-up, so now they have something more to look forward to for Week Eight, when most of their injured bodies would be back.  They go into Week Seven's action in 21st, 39 points out of the money.

Questions are abound about the status of David Krejci in the Bruins' line-up this week, as he practiced with the team on Monday.  Krejci has been in and out of the line-up all year long for the Bruins, dealing with a lower-body injury.  There wasn't much for an official update, but he is only listed as out day-to-day, so it could be just about any time for his return.

Benson's climb out of the basement will hinge on the return of Krejci, his 4th round draft pick.  Benson starts the week only 4 points from 22nd place and if his top end pick can return on Tuesday night, home to St. Louis, he could be well on his way out.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.