Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 30)

Drew Stafford of the Sabres left Friday night's game against the Canadiens with an undisclosed injury, an injury that was severe enough to miss the second half of the home and home series on Saturday night.  The team doesn't believe that the injury is all that significant and that he should be able to return in Week Nine.

If Benson didn't have any bad luck, he probably wouldn't have any luck at all.  However, his team could just be ensuring that he ends up with the 1st pick in the Waiver Draft.

I can't say that I'm shocked to see Marian Gaborik of the Kings back on the shelf, as he is one of the more prominent players on the Injury Prone list, which I publish on an annual basis.  Gaborik is reportedly back on with an upper-body injury, unsure if it is related to the problems he was having earlier in the season.  He's currently listed as out day-to-day right now.

Gaborik has only played in 15 games for the Stacey M. this season, picking up 8 points, so the return on investment (5th round pick), hasn't been very good at all.

This was missed the first time around in my first weekly post of the year, but defenseman Tom Gilbert has been a healthy scratch twice now in the week, which now gets added to the list, as the free agent signing for the Canadiens has been identified as a bit of a weak link of late for the team.  Although, since the team lost both games against the Sabres over the weekend, that theory may need to be revisited.

Gilbert was a sneaky pick from Tony, but the gamble really hasn't paid off, since he has only picked up 3 points in 23 games from the veteran blueliner.  A possible drop target, indeed.

The New Jersey Devils were without a couple of key pieces on Saturday night against the Islanders, as Adam Henrique was out with an upper-body injury and Travis Zajac was out with a lower-body injury.  It doesn't sound like either injury is too serious and both players are listed as out day-to-day, but they both play a big role on the team, which hasn't seen much success of late.

A pair of injuries from the same table at the draft, as Wes and Allan each took a bit of a hit with this news byte.  Wes, leading the way for the Basement Dweller on Sunday, while Allan isn't ahead by much.  Both pool teams looking to make a splash this week.

A couple of notes from the Rangers organization on Sunday afternoon, as they were without a couple of key players on Saturday against the Flyers, as Chris Kreider was away from the team, due to a death in his family, while Dan Boyle was out of the line-up, due to illness.  There are some reports suggesting that Boyle may have caught a bout of the mumps, which has been circulating around the NHL, but that hasn't been confirmed by the team.

It sounds like Kreider's absence will only be for one game, which is good news for Dale B., but if Boyle is out for a few games, like a few players out West, that could mean a small drop off for Grant K. in the coming week.

I think we're still waiting to hear what the time table is going to be like for Bobby Ryan and his fractured finger, but Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning was the first game that he missed with the injury.  Ryan hasn't exactly been burning up the scoresheets this season and this injury is going to hurt any momentum he tried to find.

Ryan has a lot to consider this week, given that his team has seen so much bad luck this year. The Ottawa forward is likely safe to stay after the Week Nine draft, since Ryan has a couple of active donuts on his side.

When I first saw Andrew MacDonald's name on the list of scratches for the Flyers, before the game against the Rangers, I thought for sure it was another injury.  It was not.  With only 3 points in 12 games, thanks mainly to injury, MacDonald was a healthy scratch for his club, which acquired him at the trade deadline last year.

It's hard to say what Dale B. has in mind for his moves at the Waiver Draft, but MacDonald might be in consideration, given the new information about his being scratched this weekend.

A lower-body injury was to blame for the absence of Pittsburgh defenseman Kristopher Letang.  The Penguins said on Sunday morning that the injury is believed to be minor, but team doctors were not prepared to give Letang the green light to play against the Hurricanes.  He will be listed as out day-to-day for the time being and I would imagine that he would be back next week.

At the time of the post, Kristy & Don had retaken the lead in the pool, but moving forward may be a concern without one of their most potent scoring blueliners.  Definitely something to watch.

Lots of concern for St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie, who left last night's game against the Wild after taking a hit to the head from Minnesota defenseman Marco Scandella. Oshie has already been through a concussion once this season and another shot to the head will make the Blues very cautious moving forward with one of their scoring forwards.

We are waiting to hear more about the injury, but this could mean that he will be a candidate for dropping for Benson, who is likely to have the 1st overall pick when the Waiver Draft starts, possibly on Sunday night.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.