Noon Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 16)

Well, if Kristy & Don have been missing Kevin Shattenkirk, it was because he was suspended for the last couple games for his hit on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel on Saturday night. Shattenkirk has already missed his two games, Sunday night in Anaheim and Tuesday night, at home to the Wild, so he should be good to return for tonight's game, hosting the Predators.

The duo wasn't finished with missing time with just Shattenkirk, as they have also been without Columbus forward Nick Foligno, as he has been day-to-day with that nasty flu bug that has been going around. So far, he has only missed out on Monday night's game in Philadelphia and one could probably assume that he is close to returning, given the number of days rest, for the team's next game, tonight at home to the Panthers.

The duo are firmly situated in 20th place after Wednesday night's action, 4 points back of 19th and 9 points clear of 21st.

Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning has missed the last two games this week with an upper-body injury and he has been listed as day-to-day with the ailment.  Manning was hurt on Saturday and has already missed Monday's game against the Blue Jackets and Wednesday's game against the Penguins and is questionable for tonight's game against the Devils.  It's a busy schedule and it would probably be good if he was healthy, but he certainly wants to be 100%.

Brenda & Seward are still right in the thick of the 3rd place race, only 8 points back and I am thinking anything that comes from Manning is a bit of a bonus.  Bonuses are good though.

Dale B. is now down a couple of points to Brian's team in the race for 1st place overall and he has been without Jacob Trouba this week, thanks to an upper-body injury and the team has already confirmed that the offensive blueliner won't be active for tonight's game in Brooklyn. Trouba is day-to-day, but with the Jets still hoping and wishing for a Western Conference wild card spot, they are not going to show their hand.

In the first of three updates for Wilton's team, he is currently without Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad for about a week to 10 days, thanks to a concussion. The Panthers are suggesting that the concussion isn't too serious with the timetable, but with the team still floating the idea that the playoffs are a possibility, I'm sure they would want their premier defender in the lineup, sooner, rather than later.

The Montreal Canadiens hold a slim lead in the Atlantic Division standings and they are doing all they can to keep themselves on top.  Nathan Beaulieu was a healthy scratch on Tuesday night against the Blackhawks, a game the Habs dropped, 4-2, so there's a pretty good chance that the defender will draw back in on Saturday, when they play the team they're defending against right now, the Ottawa Senators.

Cam's chances at the money are getting slimmer and slimmer as the days go on.  His team is now 33 points out and with three and a half weeks to play, it doesn't seem very likely that his team is coming back.

The New York Islanders currently hold the second wild card spot in the East today and they are hanging on for dear life. On Tuesday night, they were without forward Brock Nelson, but fortunately they were playing the lowly Hurricanes, so they were able to pull out a win. Nelson is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury and there hasn't been any immediate update for his availability for tonight's game against the Blue Jackets.

The Ottawa Senators have been dealing with all kinds of injuries this season and they had to manage without their number one goalie on Tuesday night against Tampa, as Craig Anderson was dealing with a lower-body injury.  There is word that Anderson could get the start tonight against the traveling Blackhawks, but that has yet to be confirmed.  Just hinting that he could possibly start is good news for Ottawa, especially with a home-and-home coming up this weekend against the Canadiens.

For Wilton, it is Ekblad, Nelson and Anderson on the shelf this week, which has definitely attributed to his standing as the potential Basement Dweller for the week, as his team has only posted 3 points through three nights.  Ouch.

Jared Boll of the Anaheim Ducks continues to yo-yo his way in and out of the lineup.  Out at the beginning of the week, back in the lineup on Wednesday night against the rough & tumble St. Louis Blues.  This will be a regular occurrence for the tough guy, as the Ducks stride towards the playoffs, but Troy is hoping that when he is in the lineup, he's making his way to the penalty box.  He didn't last night.

The Calgary Flames had their 10-game winning streak snapped last night by the Boston Bruins and you might be able to point at the absence of Brian Elliott from their crease was partially the reason for it.  Elliott was dealing with the flu and couldn't dress, so Chad Johnson got the nod instead.  Elliott is day-to-day, but as we've seen already this season, the flu can take players down for a couple games, more than the usual one in years past.

Derek B. was running pretty hot with his number one goalie, but his team hasn't been doing so hot this week, only picking up 4 points thus far and is in the race for the Basement Dweller.

The Chicago Blackhawks won't likely get Artem Anisimov back into their lineup until the start of the playoffs, as the forward suffered a lower-body injury against Montreal on Tuesday and the team has now announced that he will miss the next 3-to-4 weeks with the injury.  With three and a half weeks left to go in the regular season, there probably isn't going to be any rush to get him back in the lineup, unless they want to shake whatever rust he might accumulate off before the real business starts.

Marcin's team is another one of those that fell out of the money race in the mid-part of the season, due to injury and it will be injury that will be the final nail in the coffin.  His team sits 12th, 42 points out today.