Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 20)

The Bruins defense situation is now pretty close to dire, as non-pool defenseman Adam McQuaid has been put on the Injured Reserve for the long-term and now there is speculation that Dougie Hamilton might miss out on Friday's game in Columbus, due to a bout of the flu. Hamilton missed out on practice on Wednesday and the indications were not exactly positive going forward, but it is still a wait-and-see situation.  If Hamilton is to miss out on Friday's game, he'll be listed as out day-to-day.

It's now a dogfight up at the top of the pool standings and Grant S, who has Hamilton, could use all the help he can get to fend of Kristy & Don.  Grant took over the lead last week and his team will go into Thursday's busy night with only a 2-point cushion.

Buffalo goalie Michal Neuvirth only managed to play one period in Tuesday night's game, hosting the Sharks, before leaving the game to his counterpart, Jhonas Enroth.  As it turned out, Neuvirth suffered a lower-body injury and was unable to complete the game and on Thursday, the team recalled goalie Nathan Lieuwen to take his spot in the line-up.  There hasn't been much word on the severity of the injury, other than the coaching staff saying that it will be "longer than day-to-day."  We're not sure what that means exactly, indefinitely, maybe?  Neuvirth will be on the list as day-to-day, until he's placed on the IR, then he'll be downgraded to indefinitely.

The downward trend of Wyllie's team will not be improved with this news.  His team is one of three in the pool that have yet to hit double-digits in goalie points this season, ranking 21st with 8 points through six weeks and a few days.  His 19th place standing overall has potential to drop, while his possible Waiver Draft pick will improve.

It wasn't a great display at Madison Square Gardens by the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, getting shut out by the Rangers, 2-0.  Sure, there was good news in Claude Giroux didn't miss any time with his lower-body injury, but there was some bad news, as defenseman Michael Del Zotto left the game with a lower-body injury of his own, not to return.  Del Zotto left the ice in the 3rd period under his own power, which was good news, but his status for the second half of a back-to-back night situation is awfully questionable.  He'll be listed as day-to-day, if he doesn't play, assuming there are no more updates on Thursday.

The 24-year old defender was the 3rd pick in the Preseason Waiver Draft by Allan, as Allan had to discard Sergei Gonchar, who was injured in the preseason.  The returns have been decent, picking up 8 points in 17 games from his pick-up, but his defense is still below-average by pool standards.

As of first thing on Thursday morning, not all the goaltending decisions had been announced, especially since a lot of those are revealed at team's morning skates. We do know of nine goalies, who are indeed scheduled to start, out of 22 to play tonight and there are some interesting starters already.

Three out of the nine goalies that have already been announced for Thursday night are not pool goalies: Reto Berra in Colorado, Petr Mrazek for Detroit and Robin Lehner in Ottawa.

Cam will get a rare start from Nashville's Carter Hutton tonight, as he has been confirmed as the starter against the Senators.  Mike will also get a start from Jake Allen in the game between the Blues and Canadiens in Montreal.

No pool team has a firm grip on both their keepers playing on Thursday night, but there likely will be one or two teams, if not one or two more, that will carry that distinction tonight.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.