Afternoon Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 19)

The Arizona Coyotes only played their second game on Tuesday night and it was the first game for rookie forward Dylan Strome, who was a healthy scratch in the team's opener.  Strome picked up an assist in his first game, but it was in a losing cause, as the dogs lost 7-4 to the Senators in the game.  Nevertheless, it was a good start for him and a good reason to keep him in the lineup for another game, at least.

Strome belongs to John in this year's pool, but having only missed one game, it hasn't been a big deal quite yet.  He is on the board this year, which is more than a couple of John's players can say to start the year, including the rookie's teammate, Anthony Duclair.

It sounds like it was a bout of the flu, keeping Dallas Stars forward Jiri Hudler out of the lineup on Tuesday night against the Predators.  He's currently listed as out day-to-day and I would have to think he's somewhere in between probable and questionable for their next game, Thursday night, at home to the Kings.

Doesn't sound like anything to panic about for our reigning champ, Jeremy, whose team is off to a decent start, finishing Tuesday night in 7th place, only 5 points back of 1st.  I'm fairly certain that Hudler wouldn't have made that much of a difference, but he didn't make any difference in the press box.

The growing pains in Edmonton are evident, but that's what you're going to find with a young team. 4th overall draft pick in June, Jesse Puljujarvi, was a privy to the consequences of a lacklustre performance, with a trip up to the press box on Tuesday night, when the Oilers took on the Hurricanes.  A look at the game from above is a regular teaching method and I would assume that he will draw back in before too long to apply what he has learned in the experience.

Mike has picked up a goal from the rookie forward already this year, but he could certainly use a little bit more pop from his potential this season.  Mike currently sits in 18th place, 11 points back of the leaders, and still has plenty of time to get those wheels in motion.

Los Angeles Kings forward Teddy Pucell was one of three new faces up in the press box for the game against the Minnesota Wild, as they try and find their way through some adversity to start the year. Unfortunately for LA, the moves didn't work in their favour, as they dropped a 6-3 decision in St. Paul, so it will be back to the drawing board for Sutter & Co..

Purcell was the 13th round selection for Ryan in the draft this year, giving him limited expectations, but being on the Kings, you would think there would be some offense in there for him somewhere.  I would imagine that he would draw back in before too long.

You can consider Tuesday night to be a missed start for Canucks number one goalie, Ryan Miller, who showed up to the arena on Tuesday, feeling some muscle tightness.  It was determined later, that he would not be cleared to back-up Jacob Markstrom for the game against St. Louis and an emergency tryout signing was done up in time for the game.  On Wednesday afternoon, the Canucks updated Miller's status, saying that he will be okay to dress on Thursday night, but he is not expected to start that game and that is soreness does tend to go away with a little extra rest.

This wasn't good news for Brenda & Seward on Tuesday, as their 3rd round pick wasn't able to get going for them, as they could have used the start to help them towards the next week in the survivor pool and a couple points could have helped in the standings, where they currently stand 14th, 8 points out of 1st place.

Good news on the Rickard Rakell front... the young winger has recovered from his botched appendectomy in the off-season and now that he is under contract, he is now on his way down to the AHL for a conditioning stint and to get his legs in game shape for joining the Ducks in the regular season. Conditioning stints only last a maximum of two weeks, so it won't be any longer than that.

The faster, the better for Dale C., who saw his team get off to a rough start in Week One, but is starting to recover with a much better start to Week Two.  Nevertheless, getting a body back into the lineup will be a big help.  His team will open Wednesday night in 21st place, only 11 points back of 1st.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were offering up updates on their injuries and we'll start with the new one, which is Kristopher Letang, suffering an upper-body injury against Montreal on Tuesday night.  He was hit by Brendan Gallagher in the 3rd period and had to leave the game and didn't return.  The team is currently saying he's day-to-day, but the injury prone defender is generally hard to gauge and a player they want to keep under wraps.

Sidney Crosby was back at practice today and goaltender Matt Murray is going to rejoin practice tomorrow (Thursday), so they are getting ever-closer to being healthy again... you know, besides the new Letang injury.

There is no actual timetable for a return to game action for any of the three Pens players, which has to be a concern for Mike, Brenda & Seward and Scott, respectively, moving forward.