Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 30)

It should come as no surprise that Patrick Wiercioch has made a return to the blog site, as he returned to the Ottawa Senators lineup before the All-Star break, was taken off the list, but now has made his eventual return.  Being added to the list is forward David Legwand, which is opening up the flood gates of speculation, as his ice-time has dwindled under the new coach and the trade rumours are beginning to fly.  With the Senators falling quickly away from the Eastern Conference Wild Card race, there may be a market to move these kinds of players.

Dale C. is more than familiar with his defender on the list, something I would imagine he'll try to rectify at the Waiver Draft next week.  Brian, on the other hand, hasn't had many attendance issues with Legwand, as such, but with only 19 points in 46 games, his scoring has left something to be desired.  I didn't have Legwand as a drop option for Brian in my mock draft, but he definitely could be one, if he isn't dealt from Ottawa before then.

The Senators were not without their injury news as well, as goalie Craig Anderson was sidelined earlier in the week with a hand injury, which led to the emergency recall of Andrew Hammond for Thursday night's game against the Stars. Not much has been dispelled about Anderson's injury, except that he is listed as out day-to-day for the time being, but that really doesn't mean a great deal.  Anderson's status for Saturday's home game against the Coyotes is still up in the air, he'll likely be questionable, at best, right now.

Trouble in the money race, as Cam lost a start from his number one goalie, if you can still call him that.  Cam has fallen back a bit in the race for 3rd place, dropping points to both Wes and Clayton, now sitting in 5th place, 6 points out.  He's by no means out, but he is closer to the Basement Dweller nod in the Newsletter than making money at the end of the year.

The St. Louis Blues lost the services of forward Jori Lehtera in the 3rd period of last night's game against the Nashville Predators and it sounds like he has already been ruled out of Friday night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, because of the injury.

Lehtera has been a breath of fresh air to the Blues, as a free agent signing from Europe in the Summer, picking up 9 goals and 30 points in 46 games, ranking 112th in pool scoring overall.

Unfortunately, this is another injury added to Grant S.'s list, as he feels his grip on 2nd place, as strong as it still is, might be having a few beads of sweat loosen it a little.  His lead over 3rd place is 36 points, going into the weekend and the teams behind him are gaining some ground on him.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.