Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 14)

Scary moments for Evander Kane and the Buffalo Sabres, as the scoring winger took an awkward fall into the end boards at the offensive end of the ice, moving at a pretty good click, and that collision with the end wall forced him from the game against the Canadiens and even gave him a stop in the local hospital for an evaluation.  We haven't seen any update on Kane's condition yet on Friday morning, but we're keeping an eye on this one for the pool.

Tony doesn't need any more bad luck this hockey season, since it hasn't been a great start to the year, including the World Cup.  A long-term injury right now is certainly going to add up.  Thankfully for his sake, the rest of his team is still off to a good start, 9 points in the first two nights, good enough for 8th place.

The New York Islanders have a couple of fresh-faced rookies in their active roster to start the season, but they didn't start the season on the ice together, as Matthew Barzal was a healthy scratch and Anthony Beauvillier made his NHL debut against the Rangers last night.  Both players have made the team, by the look of things, but there is no indication of what the plan is for these two youngsters moving forward.  The Islanders dropped their opening game against the Rangers, 5-3, so there could be a lineup change for the next one.

Dale C.'s team is keeping a decent pace to start the year, 8 points after the first couple of nights, 5 points back of the leader, but with some games in hand in the projected total list.  If he can get Barzal into the lineup, it would certainly be a start.

The Winnipeg Jets also suffered an injury on Thursday night in their opening game of the season against the Hurricanes, as forward Bryan Little left the game in the 1st period after playing only four shifts in the game.  He may have only been on the ice for less than three minutes, but he was still able to pick up an assist in the game.  The team will evaluate the scoring forward today and likely provide an update later on.  If the injury is more significant, an updated post will come up, but he'll be day-to-day otherwise.

Speaking of leaders in the pool, Grant is off to a great start to the year, leading the way with 13 points after a couple of nights, including Little's assist.  His team is also one of the top five in the mix for the PIM pool too, so he's preparing for a sweep, if possible.  He might need Little to be healthy to pull that one off.