Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 11)

The last-place Coyotes were able to put four on the board against the Canadiens on Thursday night, even without forward Martin Hanzal, but they aren't last place for nothing, as they dropped the game 5-4 in overtime.  Hanzal was held out of the game with the flu bug that has been going around, which has him on the list as out day-to-day.  There's no immediate indication about his status for Saturday night's game with Pittsburgh in town, but this bug has been known to slow guys down for a few extra days than normal.  We'll see how it goes for the big Czech forward.

For Jeremy, the quicker Hanzal can get back, the better.  His team is only 10 points out of the money, right in the thick of the best race in the pool, the one for 3rd place.  Hanzal hasn't exactly been great this season, but he'll help, eventually.

With the big bad Sharks in town, it wasn't the best time for the Boston Bruins to have their captain out of the lineup... or was it? Zdeno Chara was held out of the lineup for the Bruins, due to being under the weather on Thursday night, and the Bruins turned around and walloped the Sharks, 6-3.  It was somewhat unexpected, as the Sharks have been rolling of late and the Bruins had just fired their coach earlier in the week.  Go figure!  Chara is expected to be back in the lineup this afternoon against the Canucks, by the look of things, so it's only one game missed.

Marcin's team now sits right in the middle of the standings, in 13th, having a decent week so far, but is still 35 points out of the money.  Chara isn't the tipping point for his team, but any contributions will help.

The Montreal Canadiens acquired lumbering defenseman Nikita Nesterov from the Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks ago, as the Bolts were dealing quite a bit of depth on their back end.  Since being acquired, the Russian has played in five games and has picked up a goal, but on Thursday night in Arizona, he was a healthy scratch.  The Habs are home to the Blues on Saturday night and there is no certainty that Nesterov will return to the lineup.

Wes' quest to get up to the top half of the standings has been going well and Nesterov was one of his pick-ups in the second Waiver Draft.  It hasn't been long since the new player was activated, as Wes has only seen one game at the beginning of the week and no points.  Wes' team will open Saturday's action in 15th, 10 points back of 12th.

St. Louis Blues forward Paul Stastny left Thursday night's game against the Maple Leafs after getting tied up with Nazem Kadri and now his status for Saturday night's game against Montreal is doubtful, with a lower-body injury.  Stastny currently ranks 100th in pool scoring on Saturday morning, with 15 goals and 35 points in 54 games this season, so this would be taking a good chunk of offense out of the Blues' lineup, if he is unable to go.

Grant's team has seen its fair share of struggles this season, currently in 16th place and no real prospects for money this year, even in the last outdoor game.  This one could be a wash for him.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been shuffling their deck on a regular basis, due to injury.  On Friday night, they were able to get Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn back into their lineup, but Tyler Johnson had to come out, due to an undisclosed injury.  Johnson is currently day-to-day and his status for tonight's game in Winnipeg is still in the air.

It was good news for Dale C. and Stacey M., respectively, but it was more bad news for our current champion, Jeremy, down two players in a key night, where there wasn't much action.  Will he make it back to the money this year?