Ruutu Downgraded in Carolina

As we near the start of the regular season, the injury updates are also coming with the waiver list additions and other cuts and things are not sounding too rosy in Carolina. Both forward Tuomo Ruutu and defenseman Tim Gleason were both believed to be on the shelf day-to-day with their current injuries, but now the team has downgraded the two of them to week-to-week.

Ruutu has been dealing with a lower-body injury over the last week or so and the only thing that the team would confirm was that it wasn't a hip injury that has him on the shelf.  If this is a week-to-week thing, I could see Ruutu and Gleason starting on the Injured Reserve to start the year, but it would be retroactive to inside the preseason, so they would both be eligible to come off any time.

Ruutu was hoping to come off an unhealthy season, playing only 17 of 48 games last season, scoring only 4 goals and 5 assists.

This is not good news for Benson, who has Ruutu, took him in the 13th round, 289th overall, as a pretty solid sleeper pick, despite this new injury news.  In his last two picks, Benson was trying to hit some home runs, but if Ruutu is now on the shelf for an extended period of time, he'll be lucky to draw a walk.

Ruutu is eligible for the preseason waivers, but he does pose an interesting argument, especially due to the unclear amount of time he's scheduled to miss.  If Ruutu can come back 100% from this injury in a week or maybe two, would Benson be able to find anyone that would be better for the remaining weeks of the season's first segment?