Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 11)

It looks like it was Calle Jarnkrok's turn for the press box on Saturday night, as the rotation of players in and out of the Nashville Predators lineup continues and might do so for the next four weeks.  This isn't anything to be alarmed about, as this team continues to rest up for what they hope will be a long playoff run and they are freshening up their legs.

Our pool teams don't really like this idea and it was Dale C.'s team that opposed the move on Saturday night, as his team is in the mix for the Basement Dweller nod, tied for the spot with Ryan's team after night number six of the week.  Dale's hopes of a top 10 finish are now diminishing.

The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they will be without forward Anthony Duclair for the next week or two, as he deals with a lower-body injury, believed to be something in his knee. Duclair was the victim of another odd and reckless play from Bruins forward Brad Marchand on Saturday afternoon and will start to miss time with the team's second game of the home-and-home series this morning/afternoon. The 22-year old had a pretty slow start to the season with the Coyotes, before being dealt to the Blackhawks, where he has seen an upswing in production before this injury, so it's a real shame that he couldn't keep it going for now.

Wilton's team currently rounds out the top 10 in the pool standings, sitting at 547 points through Saturday night's action.  His team sits 8 points back of 9th and 15 points up on 11th, sitting somewhat comfortably in a bubble.  Duclair hasn't had a great season for him, 23 points in 56 games, but his absence may help the bubble burst.

The Edmonton Oilers are now winding down the season as best they can and a win over the Wild on Saturday night is just about as good of a way to do so or start to do so now.  But with only four weeks left to play and an insurmountable amount of points to recover and teams to jump over, it's time to start working towards getting healthy again and that's why defenseman Oscar Klefbom had undergone a shoulder procedure over the weekend, something minor, but likely something to help him moving forward.  He's currently listed as day-to-day, only expected to miss a couple of games, but I'm sure they won't rush him back, just because there isn't much left to play for.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was a late scratch ahead of the Hockey Night in Canada main bill game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, due to a bout of the flu.  It doesn't sound like anything major, as he may have been close enough to play, but the player and the team took the cautious route on this one.  Certainly not a bad idea and it wasn't like they missed him too much, beating the Penguins, 5-2, on the night.

It's too bad that the idea of the draft order being determined by a random number generator, aided by the weight of last year's finishes, didn't take  Stacey C. would be in a pretty good spot this year, as his team has struggled and there would be some value in it for next season.  Not having both Klefbom and Zaitsev would have been a positive in that regard, most definitely.