Afternoon Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 8)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced today that they will be without their franchise player, Auston Matthews, for their game against the Minnesota Wild tonight, as the 20-year old is currently dealing with an upper-body injury.  The details have been pretty vague on the injury, but he is currently listed as day-to-day.  Some reports are suggesting that Matthews was a game-time decision on Monday against the Golden Knights, so he may have been dealing with this injury for a while already.  So, we'll play wait and see.

Matthews is the top forward for Benson's 3rd place team in the pool and he'll open Wednesday night's action without him and only 1 point back of 1st place.  This could be a bit of a crushing blow, if the injury is significant, but you know that the Maple Leafs will be playing this injury close to the vest.

An update on Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf, he underwent facial surgery to repair a fractured bone in his face and it will now keep him out an extra two months for recovery.  Getzlaf took a puck in the face against the Hurricanes last week and it wasn't until the swelling was down enough that they could figure out what the damage was.  It is a worst-case scenario for the Ducks, as they have really been struggling on the injury front this season.

This is a bad break for Eric's team, who has been struggling to find points from his defense and goaltending, so he needs all hands on deck from his forwards.  The remainder of his forwards haven't been doing bad, ranking 7th in the pool with 80 points, but the loss of Getzlaf may drop him in the rankings quickly.

Another injury note for the Anaheim Ducks, as goaltender John Gibson left last night's game against the Kings with an upper-body injury, leaving the net to Ryan Miller in the 4-3 overtime loss. The update from the morning skate is that Gibson is undergoing the concussion protocol and the team is hopeful that he will skate tomorrow and then his status for Thursday night's game with the Canucks in town is still up in the air.

This could be a significant blow to Tony's team, as we are only in the early days of the concussion protocol.  The protocol has gotten better for players, as they are not held out for a minimum amount of time, but it is something worth keeping an eye on.  A placement on the IR or a goalie recall will usually signify that it is more than they bargained for.