Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 17)

The Edmonton Oilers are not expected to have Kris Russell in their lineup today, when they visit the Florida Panthers in an afternoon game. Russell blocked a shot in the team's last game, Wednesday night's loss to the Sharks, suffering the injury. Russell didn't practice on Friday and the coach confirmed that he was very doubtful to play tonight. The veteran defender has played in 68 games this season, picking up 4 goals and 21 points, ranking 76th among all defensemen in pool scoring.

Is 'the race for the equator' something?  I think Derek B. wanted to make it something, as his goal for his team is to finish in 13th and that's where his team is right now, after Friday night's action.  4 points back of 12th and 3 points up on 14th, his team has a tiny little bubble in the middle and that must make him so happy.

Joonas Donskoi of the San Jose Sharks was an afternoon scratch on Friday, ahead of their game in Calgary, as he too was hurt on Wednesday night in the game against the Oilers.  Donskoi suffered an upper-body injury and wasn't able to dress for last night's game.  He's currently believed to be day-to-day, but that can certainly change as we move forward, since we haven't heard much in the way of an official word yet from the team.

For Eric's team, Donskoi has just been mediocre, since joining in the Week Nine player swap, only picking up 18 points in 39 games since his activation.  That is tied for 20th in scoring among players taken in that swap, which I suppose isn't too bad for the 27th player taken.

Finally, the Washington Capitals are likely holding their breath a little bit, as they await word on news regarding the arm injury that Evgeny Kuznetsov suffered on Friday night, in the team's 6-3 win over the Islanders.  Kuznetsov was slashed while on a partial break, favouring his arm as he went down and left the ice, but there has still been no update on his condition.  With the playoffs just around the corner, the Capitals could ill-afford to lose such a key piece.

Jeremy's season as been marred by injuries, so what's one more before the end of the year.  For the team that sat in 1st place through Week Seven, the toll that injuries have taken on his team has seen it drop down to 20th place.