Afternoon Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 26)

There wasn't much notice before Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan was scratched from Wednesday night's game against the Ducks, but a lower-body injury is the concern for the veteran forward, but he's currently listed as out day-to-day, so it shouldn't be considered serious... until otherwise notified.

Well, if anything, Doan is keeping Derek & Dan in the PIM Pool race, with a whopping 40 minutes in the box, thus far in the season, by far their most penalized player.  As we move to the Waiver Draft, they're 56 PIM back of Wes at this point and today, they are two picks behind Wes, up by only 1 point, so things could change there for them, for the better, soon.

Things don't sound too good with Tyler Ennis at the moment, as he missed last night's game against the Nashville Predators with an upper-body injury and the coaching staff revealed that they needed to re-evaluate him before they gave out any sort of status or a timetable for a return, so that doesn't leave a great deal for optimism.  Nevertheless, he'll be on the list as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and we'll update his status, as soon as it becomes available... or thereabouts.

This isn't quite the news that Scott wanted to see, as his team sits in 12th place, 27 points out of 2nd-3rd place and hovering closer to the Basement Dweller than the Mover & Shaker for the week.  Ennis hasn't been great yet this year, only having 10 points, but there is always potential in his game to come back around... when healthy.

As expected, the Calgary Flames elected to send down Joni Ortio to the AHL on Thursday, after he had cleared waivers at Noon ET.  The young Finnish netminder has made four appearances this season with the big club, failing to register a win in 140 minutes worth of action, so it should come as no surprise that he was sent down, as Karri Ramo has carried the load in Jonas Hiller's absence.  With Hiller returning from a hip problem, they wanted to make room for him with the demotion.

Ryan's gamble on the Flames' 3-goalie situation backfired and it appears it will stay that way until the next injury or a trade happens in their organization.  Ryan, who is still in the survivor pool, may want to elect another back-up goalie as his safety net moving forward.

On Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers have suggested that defenseman Justin Schultz should be ready to go for Friday's tilt, away to Detroit, returning from a back injury. Schultz went onto the IR on October 28th and was expected to be out for four weeks and that's about where we are now, so there should be an expectation that he should be as close to 100% as he needs to be to play.

Great news for Stacey C., who may or may not have been on top of Schultz's status, ahead of next week's Waiver Draft, but it will be like he's getting a fresh body for his lineup, without having to drop anyone.  His team could use the boost, as it now stands 44 points out of the money, but it could be ready for a stretch of good health and good production.  Stay tuned!

The Minnesota Wild are also expecting to have a big name player back in their lineup, after the US turkey break, as Zach Parise was expected back in practice on Thursday and was said to be probable for suiting up against the Winnipeg Jets at home on Friday night.  The franchise forward has been out of the lineup since the beginning of November with a sprained knee, which was expected to keep him out on a week-to-week basis and thankfully for the Wild, it was only a few weeks on the shelf.

Benson's team will also get a much-needed kick in the ass, as they are barely on the outside of the Basement Dweller spot for the week, 1 point up on the current dweller, heading into the weekend's action.  Parise left with 9 points in 13 games, so there is a good chance he'll be good for points upon his return.

Even more good news, what a Thanksgiving miracle this has been for the hockey pool! Ryan Strome has been recalled by the New York Islanders, ahead of their next game, Friday night in Florida, after a few weeks in the AHL.  Strome was running quite the cld streak on the Island, before his demotion, so they sent him down to regain a little bit of that confidence.  Now we'll see if that will work out in their favour.

Strome was taken by Clayton in the 6th round, 140th overall, but ranks 404th now with his 5 points.  In order for Strome to be worthy of his draft position, he would need to be at 13 points right now, exactly where Sidney Crosby is in the rankings.

Click here for the updated injury/news page on the website