The Ottawa Senators were definitely thrilled with the showing that defenseman Thomas Chabot put on at training camp and throughout the preseason, they signed the 18th overall selection from this past June's draft to his 3-year entry-level deal.Chabot was paired up with Erik Karlsson on occasion in this preseason and made quite the impression, both on his coaches and his partners on the blueline.
Still, there is still a bit of growth in his game that needed to be addressed and competitive teams in the league are not known to have much in the way of 18-year old defensemen, unless they are shooting out the lights with their offense.
Just before signing his deal, Chabot was sent back to the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, so he'll get his extra year of seasoning with the junior ranks, but he's one to really keep an eye out for next season.
The injuries to Flyers players, Sean Couturier, Michael Raffl and goalie Michal Neuvirth do appear to be minor and they should be ready to go, in their various capacities, on opening night next week. Neuvirth, who wasn't on the injured list, was reportedly battling something minor, but is expected to start in tonight's preseason game. Raffl will get one more preseason game, while Couturier likely won't see anymore preseason action, but should still be good to go for Thursday, October 8th, in Tampa Bay.
Wild forward Jordan Schroeder is on the list with a nagging groin problem, but it sounds like he is also dealing with an upper-body problem, which could force him from the Wild's opening night game, also on the Thursday, in Colorado. The team is suggesting that there is a chance for him to make it, but two injuries, even if they're day-to-day problems, have to pose some real doubt. Schroeder's projections top out at 18 points for the year, so he's not expected to be a big part of the Minnesota offense.
Veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey is supposedly dealing with an injury of his own, when he collided with teammate Jeff Skinner at practice on Tuesday and missed out on Wednesday morning's skate. Hainsey was scheduled to play for the Hurricanes on Wednesday night against the Capitals, but he will be subbed out for the night. He'll be on the list as out day-to-day for right now. Hainsey is projected between 10 and 14 points this year, so the draft would have to go fairly deep for him to come into play.
The new Montreal Canadiens captain, Max Pacioretty, is set to make his preseason debut, as he is coming off of off-season surgery to his knee. Back in July, Pacioretty was scheduled to miss 12 weeks after the surgery, putting him around the beginning of October and that's where we are right now, the day before October hits. Pacioretty should be good for opening night, getting a few reps in the preseason to try out his rehabbed knee.
Another big rookie demotion on Wednesday afternoon, as the Edmonton Oilers decided to send defenseman Darnell Nurse down to the AHL, trying to work on his game. Nurse is among the elite draft picks they have in their system, but I could understand that the team wants to be a bit more mature in the back, if they are going to be so head strong and young up front. I don't think it will be long before Nurse makes his mark, which could still happen this season, as he is only in the minors and not juniors.
A couple of projected forwards saw demotions from the Predators camp, as Steve Moses and Colton Sissons were both sent down to the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday. Both were projected around the 3rd line of Nashville, so there wasn't a great loss to the pool projections, but they were there, if you were still looking for sleeper picks.
The Colorado Avalanche pared their roster down to 30 players and there were a couple of projected players sent down to the AHL on Wednesday: forward Joey Hishon and goaltender Calvin Pickard.
Another Hockey News projection for the rookie campaign was shuffled off to the AHL on Wednesday. The Florida Panthers decided that defenseman Mike Matheson is better off starting the year in the minors, instead of with the big club. Matheson was projected for 16 points, if he was to have made the team, which would have likely slotted him to be more suited for the Waiver Draft, than the actual draft, but you just never know how it goes for some people combing through their magazines at the draft.
Bad news for the Edmonton Oilers and us poolies, forward Jordan Eberle's injury is quite serious, as the club blogged that Eberle is now expected to miss the next 4-to-6 weeks with a shoulder problem. The nature of the injury was not exactly described, but the upper-body problem was a shoulder injury and it will now cost him at least a month.
Another injury to a player with some serious potential is Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman, who left the game between the Lightning and Penguins in the 2nd period with an undisclosed injury of his own. The coaching staff said that they wouldn't quite comment on the injury, until he was evaluated back in Tampa and that he was lifted, purely as a precaution.
If you've been reading some of the injury reports elsewhere, you've possibly seen some of the speculation about the Sabres' blueline, which has been depleted by injury in this preseason already. One of the youngsters that was ready to make the jump into the opening night roster, Brendan Guhle, was leveled in the preseason game against the Leafs and was lifted from the game for precautionary reasons.
Considered to be more of an AHL player this season, but makes the list, just in case... Washington forward Chris Brown will miss the next few weeks with a reported injury. Brown made five appearances with the Capitals last season and picked up a point, but with the depth at forward that the Capitals have this year, there was very little chance that Brown was going to make much of an impact. Just squashing potential sleepers here, nothing more to see.
The Senators and Jets played at the MTS Centre on Tuesday night and they hooked up for a pretty good game, as the two sides try and make some of their final decisions in camp. The Jets came away as 4-3 overtime winners in this one.
The St. Louis Blues scored four unanswered goals after going down 1-0 to the Dallas Stars in the middle frame to take the game, 4-1, in preseason action.
The Calgary Flames played host to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, in their last preseason meeting of the Fall and it was the Flames that took the game and the 2-game series, with a 2-0 shutout win.
The Ducks and Kings played their second and final match-up of the preseason and the scorelines were eerily similar, as the Ducks won both games, 2-1, but Tuesday night's game was done in overtime.
I don't think there should be many doubts about who will start in goal for the San Jose Sharks this year, as Martiin Jones should have a pretty good handle on the job, as he made 30 saves in a 2-1 win over the Vancovuer Canucks on Tuesday night.
The New York Islanders coaching staff released a few injury updates this afternoon. Defenseman Thomas Hickey was the worst of the bunch, as he'll miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury, something he suffered in Monday night's game against the Washington Capitals. Hickey left the game with the injury, not to return, but there wasn't much more to the update.
The Detroit Red Wings went into Boston and soundly defeated the Bruins in preseason action, taking the game on Monday night, 4-1. Tomas Jurco had a goal and an assist to lead the way for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard got the entire game in the net, making 31 saves for the win.
In the Big Apple, back-up goalie Antti Raanta got the start for the Rangers, making 27 saves for a win over the Philadelphia Flyers. In a 3-2 overtime win, Raanta was the only notable Rangers player in the game.