Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 10)

Amid all the trade talk that is now surrounding the New York Rangers, one of the key targets for the trade rumours, defenseman Ryan McDonagh, was unable to play on Friday night against the Flames, due to an upper-body injury.  The captain of the team has reportedly been dealing with a nagging injury, so the Rangers are not going to include him on their upcoming 4-game road trip, which begins Sunday in Winnipeg.  The team will likely be trying to get him to full health, so they could maximize their return on any trade that could happen in the next couple of weeks.

This certainly doesn't help Dale C.'s team and their chances at a money finish.  Dale's team finished the night in 10th place, 44 points out of the money.  The gap isn't getting any smaller and the number of days are shrinking rapidly.  It needs to be all hands on deck for this finish.

The Vancouver Canucks cannot escape the injury bug, as it has clamped down hard on their current road trip.  Going into Carolina on Friday night, they were without the services of forward Brock Boeser and defenseman Chris Tanev (again!) to injury.  It was a hand injury for Boeser and a leg injury for Tanev, both injuries suffered against Tampa Bay the night before.  It doesn't sound like Boeser's hand injury is too much to worry about, but Tanev could be an extra day or two to get over his.  Both are listed as day-to-day, not quite as significant as earlier injuries on this trip.

There is plenty of money riding on Boeser's health, as he has been one of the key figures on the championship defense of Dale B.'s team, which has lost some steam in recent weeks, now sitting in 3rd, 10 points out of 1st place.  Dale needs the Canucks rookie to be back in the lineup for a solid title defense.  Tanev, on the other hand, belongs to Scott's 24th place team, which currently holds a 14-point buffer on Steve's team in 25th.  Tanev hasn't been much help this year, regardless.