Noon Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 5)

The Boston Bruins appear to be ready to welcome David Backes back into their lineup on Saturday night, when they host the New York Rangers tonight at the TD Garden.  Backes has been out for a couple weeks, healing up from surgery on his elbow to correct an issue.  He was held out of play to stave off infection for the most part and needed that extra time for the stitching up to heal in a very active part of the body, especially in hockey.  Last night, prospect forward Sean Kuraly was sent back to the AHL, opening up the spot for the team's off-season acquisition.

Brian's team hasn't needed much help this week, but I'm sure he would appreciate all he can get.  Brian's team is one of five teams in the standings, tied with 87 points, heading into Saturday's action and Scott, who leads the pack, thanks to tie-breakers, sits in 3rd place, 2 points out of 2nd.

Word out of Oilers camp in Brooklyn tonight is that defenseman Kris Russell will not be dressing for the team against the Islanders, as an undisclosed injury will sideline him for the game. Eric Gryba has been tapped as the one to take his spot in the lineup, as he has been the one sitting out the last couple of games.  Russell will be listed as out day-to-day, until the Oilers can confirm the details of the injury and the timetable for his return.

For Grant, his team is also in that mess of teams at the 87-point plateau, but his team has a player coming out of the lineup and not coming back in.  His team has been shaken with all kinds of injuries already this year, so he'll hope that Dennis Wideman could sneak into the Flames lineup tonight, just to make up for this loss.

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler is not expected to be in the lineup tonight, when the team visits the Maple Leafs tonight. Edler reportedly suffered an upper-body injury in the game against Ottawa on Thursday night and he is considered to be day-to-day. This brings up prospect defenseman Troy Stetcher for a second time this season and he'll be looking to impress for a full-time job.

It's a man game lost for Jeremy, who has seen his team move up to 14th already this week.  Edler has been underwhelming this season with only 1 goal in 11 games to start the year, well down in the scoring rankings and opening himself up for a swap at the Waiver Draft.