Draft Pool Scratches (Oct 8)

The Hurricanes went into the regular season with nine defensemen on their roster, which implies that there is still a lot of competition to be had between some of the players for spots in the 2012 season. One of the surprise scratches on opening night was Jamie McBain, who had a pretty good year in 2011.  At the start of training camp, you would have thought McBain would have been a lock for opening night, but that obviously wasn't the case.  The 4-1 loss, however, should likely insert him back into the line-up on Saturday night.

It was an early man game lost for Allan S., who actually has gotten off to a pretty good start over the first couple of days, sitting in a tie for 1st place with 8 points.  Allan, our returning champ from last season, is nearing the 'kiss of death,' finishing 1st after the opening week of action, as well.  Stay tuned!

Lots of hype for Senators defenseman David Rundblad, who had made the team out of training camp as the seventh defenseman, thanks to injuries within the organization.  Rundblad is a smooth puck-moving defenseman, who has plenty of offensive upside to him, but his youth must be somewhat of a concern, since he didn't make it into the opening night line-up against the Red Wings.

The Senators do not play again until Tuesday night, home to the Minnesota Wild, so there is a chance that he could make his NHL debut against them.

Newcomer to the pool, Derek W., made Rundblad his last pick, taking the chance on the much-hyped defenseman, taking him 303rd overall.  With the depth that the Senators believe they have on defense, he'll have to pick up the pace, if he wants to stay with the club all year, which could be a mighty concern for Derek.