Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 14)

The New York Rangers had to play without their captain on Tuesday night with the Blackhawks in town, as defenseman Ryan McDonagh was held out due to the flu.  He'll be day-to-day and somewhere between questionable and probable for Thursday night's game in Dallas.

Wilton had bodies returning to their respective lineups, so to balance all of that out, one had to come out, right?  Wilton currently leads the pool in projected games for the rest of the week and if McDonagh is good to go on Thursday, he'll definitely add to it.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic left San Jose's game on the weekend with a lower-body injury, not to return, but his status was questionable heading into Tuesday night's game against the Maple Leafs. In the end, the veteran blueliner did miss the game and he was inserted onto the injury list as out day-to-day. There's a good chance that he'll return on this current road trip, which continues tonight in Ottawa, but he might not be ready for tonight's game.

Vlasic has 3 goals and 7 points in 28 games this season, which is only okay, in terms of defenseman production, but Grant would certainly be happier if there were more points there.  Grant's team isn't exactly off to a great start this week, with only 2 points in the first couple of nights.

Washington forward Andre Burakovsky has been under one hell of a cold spell, pointless in his last seven games, so he was a healthy scratch on Tuesday night, when the Capitals took on the Islanders.  With the 4-2 victory, there's a good chance that the young forward will find more time up in the press box, as the coaching staff will likely keep a winning lineup together... or one would assume that, at least.

For Stacey C., his team has dropped off a little in the last couple weeks, after hitting a money conversation position of 5th at the end of Week Eight.  His team is certainly still in the mix, just in need of a hot streak, as his team is only 15 points out of 2nd, 3rd & 4th place.