Afternoon Injury Updates (Sep 30)

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.

Be weary of Pacioretty, however... I did put him on the injury prone list this Summer, because he has had more than his fair share of time on the shelf.

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