Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 18)

On Friday night, the NHL came down on Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk for his actions that led to the line brawl against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. Tkachuk provoked Red Wings forward Luke Witkowski, as he was ushered off of the ice by an official, to turn back around and start a physical altercation on a much larger scale. Thanks to Tkachuk's repeat offender status, the league decided to suspend him for a single game, which will be today's game in Philadelphia.

It's not a heavy sentence from the league, but it does punish a stupid action.  Chris' team will miss out on a skater game for that suspension, one he could have used today, as he is right in the thick of the money race, only 8 points out in 8th place.

The Columbus Blue Jackets opted to make defenseman David Savard into a healthy scratch on Friday night, when they hosted the New York Rangers.  The decision certainly didn't hurt the club, as they came away as 2-0 winners, so Savard's status for their next game could be in jeopardy.  Savard has 2 goals and 6 points in 20 games this season, so he hasn't been too bad of a pickup on the blueline, but something about his game must have gotten to the coaching staff.

Stuart's team made some moves up in the standings this week, jumping back up from 12th to 9th, his peak weekly finishing position already this year.  His team is hanging in there, right behind Chris', only 1 point back, so hoping to get Savard back in the Columbus lineup should be a priority.