Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 22)

Calgary's acquisition of defenseman Michael Stone was going to send some shock waves through their lineup and it certainly did.  Garnet Hathaway was sent down to the minors and Dennis Wideman was made into a healthy scratch, as the Flames took on the Predators in a wild one on Tuesday.  Wideman, the obvious pool player of the two, is likely on the trade block, given his limited role with the team and his huge paycheque and now, they can protect this asset before the trade deadline and stay relatively competitive on the ice, with their new acquisitions leading the way.

For Grant, he is hoping that Wideman can get dealt before too long, as his team wants to finish with a reasonable standing.  Currently, his team sits in 15th place, 7 points back of the 13th, the middle of the pack, 9 points back of the top half.  I'm sure the top half would be an ideal finish.

The Edmonton Oilers only got two quick shifts out of defenseman Adam Larsson on Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he reportedly left the game in the 1st period with tightness in his back and he wasn't able to return to the game.  We still haven't seen any updates on the status of Larsson after the game or this morning and the Oilers quickly turn around and play the Florida Panthers tonight, so his status would be considered questionable, at best.

Brian has clawed back a point on Dale B. on Tuesday night, but if Larsson can't go on Wednesday night, it does limit the chances at clawing back that last point to tie up the overall standings.  This race isn't short of good news bytes, that's for sure.

The Montreal Canadiens are still in their period of adjustment with their new head coach, Claude Julien, which means that the lineup will probably find some tweaks, in and out, for the next little while, as he finds his balance.  On Tuesday night, for the game against the Rangers, Julien opted to scratch defenseman Nikita Nesterov, sending him up to the press box as a healthy scratch.  This isn't anything new for the big Russian defender, but it likely isn't the start he would want with his new coach, already being a target for the press box.

Wes' team continues to be on a mission to the top half of the standings, trying to get into a quality finish to the year.  His team was down in the crapper around the first Waiver Draft and the changes he was able to make has been good.  This scratch is negligible, given the position and the scoring rate of the player.

Prior to the Pittsburgh Penguins playing the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the visiting birds announced that forward Nick Bonino wouldn't dress, because he was under the weather. He'll be listed as day-to-day, but this illness has been known to cost players anywhere between one to four games this season, so we'll be keeping an eye on him. During the game, the Penguins also lost the services of defenseman Trevor Daley, due to a lower-body injury, and he didn't return.  There was no immediate update on his status, but the Pens blueline can ill-afford to lose another player down this stretch.

The big news here is Daley's injury, as this is another knock against Dale B.'s team, as he continued to defend his lead spot atop the standings, but his lead has now dropped down to 1 point.  Daley isn't a huge part of his team, but it all adds up.  Bonino, on the other hand, belongs to Stacey M. and he plays no part in the goalie survivor pool, which is about all she has left to cheer for this season.