Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 2)

It was likely another learning experience for Oilers rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, as he was scratched ahead of the marquee match-up against the Jets on Thursday night.  The Finnish rookie hasn't quite found the scoring touch of his draft-mates from June, having only 1 goal and 7 points in his first 20 games.  The 4th overall pick in June hasn't quite seen the ice-time that some of the others have had, almost to the point where he may not have earned it yet.  We'll see how this affects his game.

Puljujarvi was Mike's only entry into the non-existent rookie pool this year, which hasn't quite rounded out for him at all.  Overall, Mike's team has been bumped up to 8th place in the standings and if his Finnish rookie can find his way to the net, more is definitely in store.

It was a performance related scratch for Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein, who found himself in the press box for the game between New York and Buffalo on Thursday night.  There's a pretty good chance that he'll be back in the lineup, when the Rangers go again, Saturday afternoon with Carolina in town.

Marcin has only picked up 6 points in 21 games from the blueliner, which isn't terrible, by any means, but I think it is fair, when the Rangers coaching staff say they expected better thus far.  Marcin can't complain too much, sitting in 3rd place, 8 points back of 2nd.

It was in the cards for a few days, but it was made official earlier in the week, when Craig Anderson departed the Senators for his family reasons.  There is no immediate timetable for his return, but he'll be listed as day-to-day for right now.  Both the player and team have been fairly forthcoming with updates in his tough situation at home and the team will allow him to take as much time as he needs.

Unfortunately for Wilton, this really holds his hockey pool team over a barrel, which pales in comparison to what Anderson is going through at home.  Wilton's team is hoping for good news and a quick return, I'm sure, as his team sits in 12th, 13 points out of the money.

Struggling forward Vladislav Namestnikov was a healthy scratch on Thursday night against the Blues, as his production hasn't been great this year, 3 goals and 10 points in 24 games this year.  A game up in the press box likely won't hurt his cause, more so it'll probably help him out.  The Lightning will welcome the Capitals to town on Saturday and there is a good chance that he'll draw back in after the loss to St. Louis.

For Ryan's proxy team, he contributed well, but in a slow week for his team, the scratching didn't help his cause much.  Ryan's team is currently tied for the Basement Dweller nod after four nights this week and he could really use a quick boost from somewhere.

The Winnipeg Jets have been welcoming back some healed bodies to their lineup, which means that there are some lineup conflicts and someone was going to have to sit at some point. Rookie forward Kyle Connor was one of those players on Thursday night, as he was a healthy scratch for the game against the Oilers. Connor hasn't quite made the impact the team may have expected, with only 1 goal and 4 points in 19 games.

For Eric, this won't be much of a worry, starting on Monday, as Connor was his first round drop in this week's Waiver Draft, which has taken forever to go through.  Eric's team will open Friday night's action in 19th, now 26 points back of the money.