Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 29)

On Monday night, it was a second straight game for Islanders forward Ryan Strome in the press box, as he was a healthy scratch for games against Sharks on Friday night and then the Flames again last night.  Strome has been a disappointment again for the Islanders and that bounce back season we were all hoping for hasn't happened.  With 2 goals and 6 points in 19 games, becoming a healthy scratch this season isn't exactly where you want a player to be.  I would imagine he would have to be close to the trading block these days.

For Brenda & Seward, they won't have to deal with this for too much longer, as Strome was their opening drop on Monday, as they are hoping to get a little bit more scoring out of their side through the Waiver Draft.  Still, they will have to stomach the rest of this week with him.

The Dallas Stars were really high on signing defenseman Dan Hamhuis in this off-season, but things are not going quite as well as they would have hoped, as they have now scratched him for the second time this season on Monday night.  Hamhuis didn't play against the Blues in the Stars' 4-3 overtime loss and should likely figure back into their lineup tonight in Detroit.

John S. has some bigger fish to fry at the Waiver Draft this week or else a guy like Hamhuis, who has been a scratch in Dallas, might be on the chopping block.  That likely won't be the case here, since John has some injured bodies, in need of expunging.

The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot from his conditioning stint on Monday morning and he could be suiting up for the club on Wednesday night in Brooklyn.  Pouliot suffered an undisclosed injury in the opening game of the season and hasn't seen any action in the NHL since.  Pouliot played in three games on his conditioning stint from whatever ailed him and should be game ready for the Islanders and his second game of the season.

The Penguins have now deemed him healthy, which could be good news for Troy, but it is still a question of how late this call actually is.  Now that he has been deemed healthy, Troy will have to use his 2nd drop to move him and he wouldn't be able to move him in a bonus round.

It sounds like Craig Anderson is close to making a return to his family this week and on Tuesday morning, they have taken the precautions ahead of time, recalling Andrew Hammond from the minors to help fill that goalie spot.  Anderson is expected to get the start tonight, with Mike Condon backing him up, while Hammond will be the healthy scratch.  Once Anderson leaves, everyone will move up one and that should be the goaltending hierarchy until Anderson's return.

Clayton, at the very least, gets the projected games back on his team list, although he doesn't expect to get very much on this recall. Now, it's a question of whether or not Hammond survives the Waiver Draft, despite the lack of goaltending talent available to be picked.