Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 24)

A couple of notes from the Florida Panthers camp this morning... first, forward Radim Vrbata was a healthy scratch again for the cats, when they took on the Dallas Stars.  Vrbata's disappointing season has seen him dress in only 34 games and he only has 5 goals and 13 points in those appearances, so the team does seem justified in looking elsewhere for production.  Second, in that game against the Stars, starting goaltender James Reimer was forced from the game after suffering a lower-body injury, while making a save.  Reimer will be reevaluated in the coming day or two, but it is believed to be a groin tweak.

Wes' team has gotten hot again, despite Vrbata's absence, while Troy's team doesn't want any more injuries.  Wes sees his team catching up to Troy's side this week, already making up 9 points in the first couple of nights, but Troy still sits 11 points clear from Wes' team in 18th place.

It was a bad night for injuries on the New Jersey Devils' roster.  Goalie Cory Schneider left the game in the 2nd period with a lower-body injury and forward Marcus Johansson left the game after taking an elbow to the head from Bruins forward Brad Marchand.  There were no updates on the condition of either Schneider or Johansson, early on Wednesday morning, but we do know that Marchand is getting a phone call from the Department of Player Safety and his All-Star weekend is in doubt.

Jeremy's team has now fallen out of the top 10 this week and if the loss of Schneider is indeed serious, that could be really bad news, leaving him with no goalies for a while.  Scott's team is on the way up, by the look of things, now trying to track down Ryan's team in 23rd place, now only 13 points behind.  The loss of Johansson will hinder him in that chase, certainly, but it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot.

The Tampa Bay Lightning opted to scratch rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev for their game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.  Sergachev has had a pretty good season, thus far, but some recent struggles gave the coaching staff reason for a quick stop in the press box for a game.  The Lightning were able to turn it around a bit, beating the Predators, 4-3 in overtime.  I can't imagine the result will have an effect on Sergachev's status going forward, as I would think he'll draw back in right away.

The Russian rookie has been one of the few bright spots in Brian's season, but the kid wasn't able to keep Brian's team afloat near the top of the standings, when the major injuries hit.  His team sits in 14th and is off to a good start this week, 11 points in the first couple nights, and it sounds like his injuries may be healing and he could be back to full capacity here soon.