Injury Updates (Sep 24)

On the fringe of the hockey pool draft, Jordan Schroeder of the Minnesota Wild is dealing with a minor groin injury, according to Wild beat reporters.  Schroeder is a long shot to be a contributor in the hockey pools this year, not even projected to break the 20-point barrier, but he has a shot at making the team, so that gives him a better chance to improve his standing, at the very least.

It's a day-to-day issue, for what it's worth.

Another minor day-to-day issue resides in Columbus camp, as forward Boone Jenner is dealing with a lower-body issue and he was not skating on Thursday morning with the team.  There are no real specifics and it would be too soon to speculate, but we'll just keep an eye out for his name on the roster in a preseason game.

Jenner has a lot more upside than Schroeder in the pool and we'll keep a much closer eye on him, as he has some projections nearing the 50-point range.  He would be quite the add, if he could achieve those sorts of scoring levels.

Heading back to the fringe, Detroit defenseman Xavier Ouellet is day-to-day with an upper-body injury in camp. Ouellet is a ways down the depth chart along the Red Wings' blueline, so he isn't carrying very much value, unless the team was to ship someone out to make room for him.

Nevertheless, he's day-to-day with his injury and will be updated accordingly on the news page.

Further to yesterday's injury notice about Florida forward Rocco Grimaldi, the update from the coaching staff on Thursday reveals that the rookie will miss at least the next week with his ankle injury.  Of course, that sounds more like a minimum, so we'll assume that there is a good chance that he'll miss a bit more time than that.

I'm not sure he can afford to miss much more time, since this team is starting to form quite well and if there is chemistry from someone taking his potential spot, he might find his way back down to the AHL to start the season.

All eyes will be on Detroit forward Johan Franzen on Thursday night, as he makes his return from post-concussion syndrome against the Penguins in preseason action.  Franzen was cleared of his symptoms at the beginning of camp, resuming all physical activities, including body-checking.

Franzen comes with a huge word of warning... this guy is injury prone.  You better be prepared for injury troubles or at the very least, forecasting his numbers for some kind of time off.  That way, if you end up getting him late, he could turn out to be a big bargain or much less of a bust.

Another highly-anticipated return goes tonight, as Mats Zuccarello will skate again for the Rangers on Thursday night, coming back from a concussion as well, after taking a slap shot to the helmet during the Eastern Conference Finals in the Spring.  Zuccarello had been skating for a while already and did miss some time to a sore foot, according to some earlier reports, but he's good to go now.

Zuccarello's bad luck about his concussion doesn't exactly suggest that he's injury prone, but concussions are risky propositions for any hockey pool players, which to me, downgrades a player's value.  Buyer beware with concussion victims.

Click here for the updated injury/news page on the website