Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 24)

The Colorado Avalanche are still struggling to find some consistency and their lineup changes do seem to suggest some real struggles. On Wednesday night against the Oilers, the Avalanche dressed Joe Colborne from his 1-game absence and then turned around to scratch Mikhail Grigorenko for the game. The move didn't really help anything, as they still dropped the game, 6-3 in the end.  With the loss, I would imagine that there will be more changes to come.

The return of Colborne was good, in theory, for Mike, but the scratch of Grigorenko was bad for Wilton, who lost a skater game in the process.  Wilton also trails Mike by 9 points on Thursday morning and is currently seven picks better for the Waiver Draft, if it were to happen today.

A scary moment for the Montreal Canadiens and their defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who left Tuesday night's game against the Ottawa Senators after being struck in the throat by an errant puck.  Beaulieu was taken to hospital, but was released on Wednesday morning after a battery of tests were done.  He will miss the next game, tonight at home against the Hurricanes, and his status going forward is still questionable.  He'll be day-to-day for right now, up until further notice.

Beaulieu has been okay for Cam in the pool, so far, picking up 6 points in 20 games, which isn't great by any stretch, but if he was looking to improve that position at the Waiver Draft, he likely won't find anyone much better.  His team is taking a bit of a dive at the right time though, improving his pick, compared to his nearest competition.

Just like Jaroslav Halak had the night before, Thomas Greiss was given the full night off on Wednesday night, as Halak made the start against the Kings in Los Angeles.  Greiss was rewarded for his win the night before by heading up to the press box and kick his feet up and watch his team lose 4-2 to the Kings.  It was a scheduled night off and nothing really to fear there.

Halak got the start for Troy, while Dale B. could be pretty happy that his goalie managed a win when he played, because that's all you can really ask for when you have a backup on your team.

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews left last night's loss to the San Jose Sharks with an upper-body injury in the 2nd period, not to return.  The team's coaching staff didn't think that the injury was going to be too serious, but they were going to wait for a definitive answer from tests done today.  His status for Friday night is questionable, at best, and we'll update the blog further, if something comes up that is worse than day-to-day.

More bad news for Wilton, but this also isn't serious enough to start contemplating a drop at the Waiver Draft next week.  Wilton's team currently sits in 12th and a couple games off could improve his standing for that Waiver Draft, as long as they somewhat keep pace.  You don't want your team to dig too big of a hole to get out of.