Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 5)

The Carolina Hurricanes are putting a solid bid in for one of the top two draft picks this season and most of it is by default, as they just can't stay healthy to save their lives.  Added to the list on Thursday night was defenseman Andrej Sekera, who was reportedly sidelined with an upper-body injury and missed out on the game against the Capitals, another game they dropped, 2-1.  Sekera is on the list as being out day-to-day, with no sort of idea of when he would be able to return.

This injury wouldn't have made him a candidate for a drop in the Waiver Draft for Wyllie, since his defense has been one of his team's strong suits... okay, his team's only strong suit.  Wyllie's team ranks 6th in defense scoring through Thursday night with 50 points, while the other positions are well-below average.

Defensemen and upper-body injuries... well, add New York Islanders blueliner Travis Hamonic to that list, as he missed Thursday night's game against the Senators with that sort of injury. Hamonic is currently listed as out day-to-day with the injury and there has been no indication there about how much time he is going to miss.

Doesn't sound like he would be on the list for too long, which is good news, as Brenda & Seward are trying to work their way out of the basement.  After Thursday night, they are 15 points clear of the bottom and they are only 6 points better than the basement in the weekly scoring.

A couple of injury notes to point out from Thursday from Ottawa... the first being somewhat strange, as defenseman Patrick Wiercioch was placed on the Injured Reserve without any indication of what kind of injury he has. The oft-scratched blueliner hasn't seen nearly enough time this season to become injured, you'd think, but all of a sudden, he wasn't on the scratch list or the roster for the game against the Islanders and it was confirmed Friday morning that it was a trip to the IR.

The second note is for goaltender Robin Lehner, who was absent from the line-up on Thursday night, with an undisclosed injury as well.  I don't believe Lehner was scheduled to start the game against the Islanders, but he was replaced on the bench by Andrew Hammond, who was called up on an emergency basis.  Lehner is on the list as being out day-to-day.

Unfortunately for Dale C., he had more pressing needs in the Waiver Draft than a lacklustre defenseman that plays every other day, so Wiercioch wasn't flipped out.  Now he'll be on the shelf for at least a week, likely as they try to figure out some more issues.  Lehner, on the other hand, was picked up in the Waiver Draft by Ryan, who isn't exactly catching a break by this injury.  Unless Lehner can return before Monday, Ryan may have just shot himself in the foot.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are now the latest team to have accumulated problems on the injury page and against the Canucks on Thursday night, they may have suffered another casualty, as Patric Hornqvist left the game after taking a hit from Ryan Stanton.  Hornqvist left the ice on his own power, but headed down the tunnel right away and didn't return.  There has been no indication from the team what the injury could be, just to wait and see what comes of it.  His status for Saturday afternoon against the Senators is questionable, at best.

Hornqvist has been Allan's best player this season, picking up 25 points in 25 games, and if he is out of the line-up for any extended period of time, it could really set him back beyond repair for the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft.  Allan is still 29 points from the pool basement, but if he's not getting 20+ points in the second segment from Hornqvist, that number could drastically shrink.

It has been a surprisingly disappointing season for Evgeny Kuznetsov in Washington, who entered the 2015 season with so much promise and potential for big numbers. So far, before Thursday night's game, he played in 23 contests, scoring 2 goals and 6 assists, which wasn't anywhere near where my projections had him in. On Thursday, he was indeed a scratch from the lineup, as the coaching staff hope that gives him the kick in the pants that he needs.  I would expect him back in the lineup on Saturday in the swamp, even though the Caps won on Thursday night.

When Kuznetsov is an underachiever and is still not the worst forward on your pool team, you know your pool team is having some real troubles.  It is the measurement that Benson is standing by this season, as his team has just crumbled under the weight of the pressure to get his name on the trophy.  Benson is now 12 points back of 22nd, hopeful that his Waiver Draft picks can close the gap, starting next week.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.