Morning Injury Updates (Sep 28)

Further to a report on Friday, Minnesota Wild forward Justin Fontaine's injury is expected to be worse than initially thought, as he suffered a charley horse after a leg collision with Columbus' David Clarkson on Thursday night. Originally, it was thought that the injury would be a day-to-day issue, but the coaching staff has now gone back on that report, suggesting that he'll be a couple weeks to get better.

Fontaine is projected to be a pool worthy forward, but this injury will hamper his chances of being taken on Saturday afternoon.  This may add a little bit more pep to the Waiver Draft in Week Nine of the season.

The NHL regular season is just over a week away, so the Los Angeles Kings are hoping that the upper-body injury that defenseman Jake Muzzin suffered on Sunday night against the Colorado Avalanche isn't too serious.  Muzzin was hurt in the 1st period of the game, which he was able to play out, but didn't return after the intermission.  There has been no word on his condition, early on Monday morning

There are some pretty high projections up for Muzzin, who is thought to be a solid 40-point producer or more, according to the publications this Summer.  Last season, he was the 25th ranked defender in scoring and he is definitely on an upswing.

Back in June, before he signed with the Penguins, forward Eric Fehr underwent elbow surgery to repair some nagging problems.  Fehr has now returned to the ice, finally, possibly running just a little bit later than expected with his recovery.  He was skating before the main groups of camp took to the ice, so that is usually a sign that he won't be ready or has been cleared for contact just yet.  This should delay his debut on the ice for the team, but it's hard to say by how long.

This bit of news has dropped his overall projections in my books, but he's still considered to be a reasonable late round pick, just a little bit later is all.

One of last year's Waiver Draft picks, actually, the last Waiver Draft pick of the year, Tampa Bay's Cedric Paquette, suffered a lower-body injury, blocking a shot on Saturday night, leaving the game, not to return.  Paquette had an X-ray on Sunday, which came back negative, which was good news for him, as the injury is likely just some deep bruising.  He may need this week to make sure his foot okay to start the season, but he should be okay.

Last year, we had to dig really deep for that talent, thanks to a boat load of injuries in the season.  Paquette is showing 20-to-24 points in his projections from three out of five outlets, so it does seem unlikely he'll be taken in the draft, but if anyone has an idea that he's a sleeper, they should be aware.

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