Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 8)

As productive as Nick Schmaltz has been in the Blackhawks' early run of offense, he has been somewhat unlucky at the same time, suffering injuries in both games thus far this season.  Schmaltz left the opener with an undisclosed injury, only to report that it wasn't very significant, which it wasn't, and he was able to play on Saturday against the Blue Jackets.  Unfortunately, he suffered an upper-body injury in that game as well and now he has been ruled out for their back-to-back games, Montreal and Toronto, early next week.

Schmaltz has 3 points in the first two games of the season, which has been a good boost to Ryan's team in the early part of the season.  Ryan's team sits on 17 points, 6 points back of 3rd place, but he won't have any players going today, so this is where he'll sit for the night.  Losing Schmaltz though, that could sting next week.

It sounds like Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund is dealing with a groin issue and it did hold him out of Saturday's contest against the Hurricanes.  Granlund reportedly suffered the injury in their season opener on Thursday night and was unable to practice on Friday or take the morning skate yesterday.  He's currently listed as day-to-day with the issue, but as much as there was no indication that the injury was overly significant, there was no indication that the injury wasn't minor either.

Grant's team has gotten off to a decent start this season, ranking 4th in the standings after Saturday night, 2 points out of 2nd, but a whopping 14 points out of 1st place and we're only four days into the season.  Grant's team doesn't have any representation in the limited action on Sunday, so this will be the point total where he stays until Monday, barring any changes in the weekly audit.

Young Predators forward Kevin Fiala was held out of Saturday's game against the Penguins, due to an upper-body injury and he is currently listed as out day-to-day.  There hasn't been much in the way of details on this injury, so it's hard to speculate what kind of time frame the team expects for him to return.

Stacey M. has had no luck with this kid, taking him last season and losing him to the minors early on and now this injury scare.  Her team is not off to a good start, currently 22nd with 13 points through four nights, but will get some help in today's action, by the look of things.

A knee-on-knee collision with Colorado's Erik Johnson sent New Jersey forward Kyle Palmieri for a tumble on Saturday afternoon and he had to leave the game with a lower-body injury.  Palmieri was one of a couple Devils players to leave the afternoon tilt with an injury, not to return, but the good news was that the tests after the game didn't reveal anything to significant in the knee area, so he shouldn't be on the shelf for very long.  He'll be considered day-to-day when he misses time.

Chris' team is one of three teams tied with 22 points in this early part of the season, meaning it has gotten off to a pretty good start to the year.  An injury like this could hurt a bit, as it will take a fairly productive player out of the lineup for a few days, at least.  Chris' team won't see any action today either, but it's done well enough to be in good shape for the start of Week Two.

Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole took a Roman Josi slapshot to the face on Saturday night, in the Stanley Cup Finals rematch game between the Penguins and Predators, forcing him to leave the game and head straight to the hospital for surgery to repair his jaw and likely some other serious ailments. The word is, Cole will be out indefinitely with his facial injury, likely a few weeks before he can even wear a shield to protect the injured area. On the social media accounts, it really wasn't looking pretty.

Losing a defenseman isn't really a huge blow to a hockey pool team, especially one taken in the 12th round, but Neil's team could use a little bit more help these days, as they really haven't gotten themselves going quite yet.  His team finished the night in 16th, 7 points out of 3rd, and now down a man for a little while.

Vancouver Canucks well-hyped rookie Brock Boeser was a healthy scratch on Saturday night, opening night for the Canucks, with the Edmonton Oilers in town, as the coaching staff was looking more at the match-ups on the other side of the ice, more than succumbing to the hype and letting the rookie play and free wheel. The plan worked, as the Canucks beat the Oilers, 3-2 at home, and now we'll wait and see when the talented young winger will make his season debut.

Dale B., the reigning champ, probably could have used a little more offense to help defend his crown, but his team sits in good shape through Saturday night's action, 9th place, 4 points out of 2nd.  Clearly, a healthy scratch isn't going to affect his club like an injury would.