Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 3)

Florida Panthers veteran keeper Roberto Luongo got the start against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, but he was unable to come out for the 2nd period after suffering a lower-body injury in the 1st, during a 5-on-3 penalty kill.  The injury is believed to be related to the hip problems that Luongo was dealing with last season and he is expected to be out at least a week, with the possibility of more.  The Panthers have already called up Reto Berra on an emergency basis to fill in as James Reimer's back-up for the time being.

Cam has been having an okay week with 14 points, through Thursday night, but his team is still losing quite a bit of ground on teams ahead of him.  His team sits in 9th, already 13 points behind 8th and the loss of Luongo will be massive.  Eric gets a big boost, with Reimer getting starts, as his team is in 7th, 13 points out of the money.

The recall of Pavel Buchnevich worked out well for the young Russian, as Michael Grabner was not able to go against the Boston Bruins, due to a hip concern.  There were no specifics given for Grabner's injury, but his spot was filled well, as Buchnevich was able to score a goal in the 2-1 victory over the Bruins.

Stacey's team could have used Grabner's presence, as they're struggling to stay ahead of the Basement Dweller potential teams, staying only 3 points clear after Thursday night.  The overall race isn't something she's thinking about and thankfully, this isn't an injury to one of her goalies.

We're still waiting to hear further news on the status of Buffalo forward Kyle Okposo, who left Thursday's game against the Coyotes with an upper-body injury.  The Sabres lost the power forward early on in the game, but they still managed to come away with a 6-3 win over their lottery-bound opponent, but Okposo is likely still to have some tests done on Friday and his status for the weekend should be coming.  If it is anything more than a day-to-day issue, you can expect an update.

Okposo has been a key part of Wes' ascension to the top half of the standings, where he now sits, 12th place, 1 point clear of the equator (13th), but still has some work to do to get any higher.  Wes' team is in the running for Mover & Shaker, but he could really use Okposo to get him over the hump.

We're still awaiting full confirmation, but it sounds like the 2017 regular season could be complete for Dallas forward Antoine Roussel, after he suffered an injury blocking a Johnny Boychuk against the Islanders on Thursday night.  The Stars coaching staff didn't seem to be afraid to suggest that the injury that Roussel suffered was indeed major and could very well cost him the last 5+ weeks and with no real shot at the playoffs, the season comes to a premature end.

Troy's only push for money this year was going to be in the PIM pool and no matter how stacked he may have made his team in that department in the Waiver Drafts, his team is still struggling to even make the top five, not to mention constantly losing ground to Marcie's team, which is both scoring and spending time in the box.