Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 28)

With the signing of Hampus Lindholm on Thursday, the shuffle on the Anaheim blueline began with the demotion of Shea Theodore to the AHL. Theodore had come up for a short stint of three games, where he picked up an assist.  But thanks to some pressing salary cap ceiling problems, Theodore wasn't destined to stay with the big club, rather he'll have to wait for something significant to pop up again, before he can make the move back to the big club.

Definitely disappointing for Tony, who was starting to see some action from an early season disappointment, just as his team was starting to find some traction.  Tony's team finished Thursday night in 21st, already 32 points out of 1st place.

Already having a slow start to the season, due to an extra stint in rehab for an off-season knee surgery, Arizona defenseman Michael Stone suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday night and had to leave the game against the Flyers.  The reports after the game were suggesting that the injury was not serious and he'll be on the list as out day-to-day for right now.  The Coyotes are returning home after their long road trip to start the season and Stone will be questionable for their home opener, Saturday night against the Avalanche.

Grant made the best of his availability though, 3 assists in four games is a good start to the season.  His team has slightly fallen off the pace, dropping down to 4th place, but only 2 points out of 2nd and 13 points out of 1st.  A quick return would go a long ways for Grant, one would think.

After a fantastic start to the season for Thomas Vanek, a groin/hip problem has surfaced and he was unable to play in Thursday night's game against the Blues, but he's currently listed as out day-to-day.  In the first seven games this season, Vanek has already posted 4 goals and 4 assists and really has been giving Detroit some much-needed offense.  The Wings still won the game last night, without their top scorer, but it is questionable as to how long that would last, if this was a long-term injury.

Vanek has also been the best player for Kristy & Don to start the year, but injuries have already cost them big, as they sit down in 15th, 22 points out of 1st place.  On the plus side, 1 point would move them into 11th place, as it is pretty tight in the middle of the standings.

The three goalie system in Brooklyn is running amok on the blog site, as Jaroslav Halak got another start for the Islanders, after sitting for two, and then Thomas Greiss was given the night off, when they took on the Penguins on Thursday night.  J-F Berube is getting a lot of work on the bench, watching the games he's not starting in.  It really seems weird that a team would employ the three goalie system these days, but there must be some kind of method behind the madness.

This isn't a concern for Dale B., as this isn't considered to be a missed start for Greiss.  Dale is in the mix this year, finishing Thursday night in 6th place, 5 points behind 2nd place and 16 points out of 1st.

Ottawa Senators number one goalie Craig Anderson was granted a leave of absence, as he attends to a family matter at home.  Of course, we shouldn't be a privy to any sort of details, that's not our business, but he is considered day-to-day for right now, but there was no real timetable for his return to the team.  Chris Driedger was recalled from the AHL and he will be backing up Andrew Hammond, starting tonight in Calgary.

This isn't good news for Wilton, losing one of his key players, but at least he isn't injured and when he's ready to return to the team, he can come right back to his spot in the crease, no questions asked.  Wilton's team currently sits in 19th and will miss his best player to start the season, as Anderson is already up to 10 points.

Finally, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a big hit on on Thursday night, as forward Nikita Kucherov had to leave the game against the Canadiens with an undisclosed injury and did not return.  The Lightning coaching staff put concussion fears to rest after the game, saying that his injury was not related to the head injury.  We'll have to await word on the details and given the player, we'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Brian could be legitimately holding his breath on this one, as this is one of his best forwards going down to injury, already his best player this week, with 4 points in the first four nights.  Brian's team is one of five teams tied at 53 points, but now is losing one of his top players, so his team could fall the wrong way out of this tie.