More Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 2)

The Carolina Hurricanes are hosting the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night and they will do so without forward Jeff Skinner, who sat out the morning skate with the flu and has been said to be a scratch for the evening.  Skinner will be on the list as out day-to-day, as his status for Sunday at home for Boston is likely probable, especially if it is just the flu.

More bad news for +Stuart this morning, who has already made an appearance on the blog on Friday morning.  Skinner was a Waiver Draft pick-up this year and hasn't done great in his appearances, picking up only 3 points in 11 games since the start of Week Ten and he has only been marginally better than the player he was picked up for, Florida's Alexander Barkov.

The New Jersey Devils have been rife with illness this season and it sounds like Eric Gelinas is the latest to come down with a bug, although there has been no confirmation of what it is exactly. The Devils have seen more than their fair share of the mumps this season, so Gelinas is under observation to make sure whether or not it is the mumps and if it is, there is a likelihood that he'll miss about a week or two with the illness.  It's just wait and see for right now.

Bad news for Wilton, as his team is in the thick of the second segment race in the pool, sitting in 2nd in the race, just behind Brenda & Seward.  Gelinas has accounted for 11 points in 32 games this season, part of an above average blueline this season.

Eight games on the docket for Friday night, kicking off a busy weekend schedule in the NHL.

First, we'll take note of the goalies who are getting starts, but are not counting in the pool, as Thomas Greiss will start for the Penguins against the Lightning at home, while Keith Kinkaid will get the nod for the Devils against the Canadiens at home.  The pool has been collecting a boatload of goalie minutes already this week, currently on pace to better the previous best average, so two games with non-pool starters shouldn't hurt too badly.

Notable starts in the pool... Martin Brodeur will get another nod for the St. Louis Blues in Anaheim tonight, while Jake Allen is the odd-man out and will be the healthy scratch, while Michal Neuvirth will get a start for the Buffalo Sabres, home to the Panthers.

Troy is the only pool team on Friday with both of his goalies going for their respective teams, Jonathan Bernier in for the Leafs against the Wild and Cam Ward in for the Hurricanes against the Flyers.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.