Morning Notes in the Draft (Oct 28)

The Anaheim Ducks are expected to be without forward Ryan Getzlaf for at least a few days, upwards of a couple weeks, as the 30-year old captain is undergoing an appendectomy on Wednesday.  The initial prognosis is between 4-to-12 days on the shelf and for how poorly the Ducks have been playing to start the season, the former is much better than the latter.

To start the season, Getzlaf has not been his usual offensive self, picking up only 1 assist in the first eight games of the season.  This is not the production you'd expect from a 2nd round pick, just ask Allan.  Allan's 22nd place team is in dire need of the regular Getzlaf back, just so he can come back and compete again.

The Arizona Coyotes are off to a much-hotter start than anyone expected, but they are starting to run through a period of injuries and included in that mess is forward Martin Hanzal, who was forced to miss Tuesday night's game against the Boston Bruins with a lower-body injury.   He's currently listed as out day-to-day and his status for Friday's game, home to Vancouver, is likely still in the air.

Hanzal was off to a damn fine start this season, picking up 10 assists in his first nine game this year, so there is no question that his assistance was missed in the 6-0 loss to the Bruins last night.  Stuart was also missing that production, as his 11th round pick was out of the lineup.

The growing pains of being a rookie defenseman in NHL... Noah Hanifin was a healthy scratch for the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, unable to dress against the Detroit Red Wings.  In eight games this season, Hanifin has 2 assists and 4 PIM, which doesn't appear to be all that bad, considering how questionable the Hurricanes were looking on paper to start the season..  Still, it wasn't enough to keep pushing in the lineup, but I don't imagine that he'll be in the press box for too much longer.

Hanifin was Derek & Dan's entry into the rookie race this year and a couple points is certainly better than nothing.  He was one of the last picks in the draft, so the expectations had to be a bit measured, but you'll notice a few bargain picks in the post, so it isn't unfair to hope that he would have been one too.

The Edmonton blueline is currently having some injury struggles of their own already in the early part of the season, as defenseman Justin Schultz missed out on Tuesday night's game in Minnesota, due to an undisclosed injury.  He's day-to-day for the time being and we'll wait for an update on his status soon.

Stacey C. has only collected 1 assist in his first nine games of the year, which isn't great production from his 9th round pick, obviously.  Stacey's team sits down near the bottom of the standings, down in 25th and ranks at the bottom with projected games to be played this week, so it doesn't appear to be getting much better right away.

A lower-body injury, possibly a muscle strain of some kind, appears to have gotten the best of Jaromir Jagr on Tuesday night, as he left the game between the Panthers and Avalanche in the 1st period with the ailment.  Jagr was unable to return to the game and he will likely be re-evaluated Wednesday and hopefully, there will be an update on what we should expect for a timetable.

Even at 43 years old, Jagr has still been great.  In nine games played, Jagr has 10 points, ranking him 18th overall in pool scoring after Tuesday night, which would be good enough for a 1st round pick.  This makes him into one of the biggest bargain picks of the draft, so far, as John P. picked him in the 8th round, 197th overall.

Finally, the Vancouver Canucks were able to snap the Montreal Canadiens' winning streak and they did so without defenseman Dan Hamhuis in their lineup, as he was given the day off as a maintenance day.  It's somewhere between an injury and a healthy scratch, likely just to rest the bumps and bruises he's already accumulated in the early part of the season.  He's day-to-day and I would imagine that he should be ready to go for the team's next game, Thursday night in Dallas, unless there is some kind of revelation about his injury status.

It has been a disappointing start to John R.'s first season in the pool, as his team is failing to meet expectations early on.  His team is just a little out of sync, throughout the NHL, but they could turn it around, if the injury news got a little bit better and the team was to start scoring, like they were expected to on paper at the start of the year.

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