Evening Preseason Notes (Sep 24)

The injury bug sure likes the taste of Robby Fabbri, it seems.  The Blues announced today that their talented scoring winger has suffered a groin strain and it may just cost him the remainder of the preseason, but he will be reevaluated later on this week, before they officially shut him down.  The official word is a Grade 1 groin strain and reevaluation on Thursday may mean that it isn't that bad, but it could very well be concerning for anyone who wants to sneak him into their hockey pool team, thinking that his upside is worth the risk.  Just be sure you know the risk.

An injury to keep an eye on in Colorado, as forward Mikko Rantanen has been held out of both practices and game action, due to a leg injury, which is being reported as a minor injury. The Avalanche are erring on the side of caution with one of their top scorers and rightfully so, given how much they will lean upon him and Nathan MacKinnon in the coming season.  He's considered to be day-to-day and may still see a game before the regular season kicks off, but it's just good to be in the know about these things.

A minor lower-body injury is set to keep Vegas forward Cody Eakin out of the lineup, likely for the rest of the preseason and put some doubt into his availability for opening night next week. Eakin is more of a fringe option for the hockey pool, more of a bottom six forward in Vegas, but if the pool gains a team, two or three, we may need some of those fringe guys to fill in some gaps and this would be a guy worth considering. No more word on what the injury actually is, but he is listed as day-to-day for right now.

Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly is another guy being held out of action, but the team, nor the player, have divulged why he has been sitting out of training camp and preseason in the last couple of weeks, but he has been.  There is no confirmation that his absence is even injury related, so it is a curious situation.  Until there's some kind of confirmation, I will have him listed as out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, but that could change at just about any time and for any reason.