Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 24)

A bout of a stomach flu was to blame for the absence of Ryan Getzlaf on Friday night, when the Anaheim Ducks took on the Jets in Winnipeg. It sounds like a day-to-day issue, but he may still be questionable for Sunday's game in Edmonton, if he can't get anything sorted.  The 2018 campaign has not been a good one for the Ducks captain, only playing in 49 games this season, due to multiple injuries, but he has been nothing but productive when he has played, scoring 11 goals and 56 points.

It's just too bad for Eric, that Getzlaf didn't play more games with that scoring rate.  Eric's team could still eye up the equator, as it's only 14 points out of 13th, heading into Saturday's action.

Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has sat out the last couple of games, Wednesday and Friday, with an upper-body ailment, adding to the enormous list of bodies lost on the Bruins side, yet they still manage to keep clawing out wins.  It sounds like Krug is day-to-day with his ailment and did practice on Friday, so he might not be too far away.  There's also a pretty good chance that the Bruins are going to wait until he's 100%, since they've all but locked up a playoff spot by now.

I don't think this will bother our pool leader, Stuart, too much, as his 52-point lead here at the end of the year is not going to be taken down in the last 2+ weeks of the season.  Stuart's team would need an epic collapse of no points and Dale B. would still have to have an amazing week.

The Florida Panthers announced the call-up of goaltender Harri Sateri on Saturday morning, as it sounds like Roberto Luongo isn't going to dress tonight against the Arizona Coyotes, leaving that start to James Reimer.  Luongo is reportedly dealing with an upper-body injury of his own and given the opponent tonight, it seems like a good time to give the number one guy an extra night off.  The Panthers are 3 points out of a playoff spot and maybe shouldn't afford to be taking any team too lightly, but if they do make it, they'll need Luongo to be healthy.

Wait a second!  Luongo is another one of Stuart's players and he's going on the shelf.  Could the epic collapse start today?

Kristy & Don had a couple of players return to their respective lineups on Friday night, as Pittsburgh forward Dominik Simon was dressed and playing, while Robin Lehner did dress for the Sabres, but didn't get the start, backing up Linus Ullmark instead.  The duo finished the night 34 points out of 4th.  Grant's team, which is 6 points better than the duo, saw the return of Patrik Laine to the Jets lineup and although he didn't get a point, his gamesmanship is off the charts with this return.  Finally, Dale C. saw a good return out of Vladimir Tarasenko, scoring a goal against the Canucks in St. Louis' 4-1 victory last night.