Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 25)

The Anaheim Ducks appear to be coasting for the remainder of the schedule, possibly giving some rest to some players and giving some chances to other players on the roster. On Tuesday night, defenseman Cam Fowler was a healthy scratch for the game against the Blue Jackets.  The argument could be made that his previous outing, a -3 rating against the Rangers on Sunday, could have been the reason why he was scratched as well.

Fowler belongs to Wilton this season, but hasn't performed to some of his expectations this season, picking up only 31 points in 73 games.  Fowler is going to make an appearance on the Playoff Pool sheet, but it may not be in the best defenseman box in the Western Conference.

A couple of injury notes for the Detroit Red Wings from Tuesday night, as defenseman Niklas Kronwall was a late scratch with a lower-body injury, where he is considered to be day-to-day at the moment. During the game against the Coyotes, forward Erik Cole left the game with an upper-body injury. As of Wednesday morning, there was no update available for either player, but the Red Wings don't play again until Thursday night, home to San Jose, so there should be an update before then.  If there is no update on the blog, they will both be day-to-day.

Kronwall belongs to Stuart, who most notably, is still in the third segment race, as he is 19 points back of Benson for the top spot and honour.  Stacey C. has Cole this season, who is 8 points behind Stuart in that same race, but neither have any sights on the money at the moment.  Both players are also penciled in for the Playoff Pool, so we'll keep a close eye on that as well.

A lower-body injury was announced as the reason why Nick Bjugstad was unable to dress for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night against the Lightning.  Bjugstad is questionable to travel with the team, as they head up North to continue a 5-game road trip through Canada.  The Panthers are on the outs of the playoffs and if Bjugstad can't go for an extended period of time, it will likely be the straw that breaks the camel's back, as they are a couple wins back and they've played one more game than the Senators, who hold the last East wild card spot.

It has been a little while since Brayden McNabb was a healthy scratch for the Kings, but on Tuesday night, he returned to the press box, as the Kings have had a healthy compliment of defenders of late.  The Kings are pushing for a spot in the playoffs and they are getting results, so they will be dressing their best chance to win rosters, which may cost McNabb some ice-time, since he wasn't on the ice for Tuesday's win against the Rangers.

Absolutely shit luck.  That's about the way Christian Ehrhoff is going to sum up the season, I would think.  Ehrhoff returned from his undisclosed injury on Tuesday night, only to play in two shifts before getting hurt on a hit by St. Louis' Vladimir Tarasenko.  The German rearguard hit the end boards violently and had to leave the ice, with what is likely another upper-body injury.  It may be too early to say, but since he had some concussion issues this season, Ehrhoff may have aggravated that problem once again.

Talk about some rotten luck.  Bjugstad, McNabb and Ehrhoff all belong to Brian, who has recently conceded the third segment lead and has now dropped down to 9th place in the standings, after such a rocking start to the final segment of the year.  His team is still 8 points back of 4th place, which is definitely still attainable, but there are a number of teams ahead of him and he has a few players that don't have a positive outlook going forward.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.