Ehrhoff Back to the IR

The Pittsburgh Penguins went into Saturday night's game without defenseman Christian Ehrhoff again and he didn't show up on the team's scratches list, which indicates that he was placed on the Injured Reserve.  At this time of year, teams don't need to put players on the IR for an extra roster spot, since after the trade deadline, teams have unlimited spots, within the boundaries of the salary cap.

Further speculation would lead me to believe that Ehrhoff may have hit the Long Term Injured Reserve, just to open up cap space for those extra roster spots, since the team isn't exactly comfortable underneath the cap ceiling.  If this is the case, this could mean that Ehrhoff will likely miss the remainder of the regular season and then be re-evaluated around game one of the playoffs.

It has been a tough year for Ehrhoff in 2015, as he has only managed to pick up 3 goals and 14 points in 48 games, when he was thought to be a pretty significant pick-up in the off-season for the Penguins.  This latest injury, not to mention the concussion problems he has had this season, will likely put him onto the Injury Prone List for this off-season, so there will be some considerable risk when taking him, if you do take him, next season.

The German rearguard belongs to Brian this year, who has been doing well this year, despite having the 21st ranked defense this season.  The pool average this season is 113 points at this point, Brian's team has only managed 71.  Still, his team is ranked 6th in the standings, which hasn't been a bad year, since Brian bottomed out around in 22nd place in Week Three.