Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 5)

An upper-body injury was the reason why Calgary Flames defenseman Kris Russell couldn't go last night against the Boston Bruins. According to Rotoworld.com, following his timeline, Russell suffered an upper-body injury a week ago, but was deemed good enough to play during Week Nine, up until Friday night's game against the Bruins. There is no real description of the injury, except that it is in the upper half. The Flames have him listed as out day-to-day and that's all we know at the moment.

Russell belongs to Troy's blueline this season, one that is ranking in the middle of the pool in points, as we near the end of the one-third mark of the season.  In 25 games, Russell has 1 goal and 6 points for his side, which remains in the hunt for the big money this year, only 8 points out of 3rd place, heading into Saturday.

There was an extra note from the Flames and Bruins game last night, as forward David Jones left the game with a lower-body injury.  Jones reportedly suffered the injury blocking a shot in the 1st period against the Bruins and was not able to return to the hockey game.  Jones has been a reasonable source of goals for the Flames this year, scoring 7 and adding 3 assists in 26 games, making him a tough asset to lose.

Dale B. added Jones to his roster in the Waiver Draft, dropping Anaheim's Patrick Maroon in the process.  If this injury is significant, this would qualify, for a compensatory pick in the 3rd round, much like Scott's pick, after he lost Teemu Pulkkinen to a long-term injury, before his activation.

In a surprise move, from the outside looking in, Scott Hartnell was a scratch for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night, as they took on the Florida Panthers and there is a chance that he may sit again on back-to-back nights, before they play against the Flyers in Philadelphia.  The Jackets coaching staff cite some fairly ineffective and undisciplined play from the veteran power forward and the coaching staff want him to shape up under the system.

This was an actual skater game lost for Dale B. last night, which could have come in handy, now that he is outside of the money, looking in this week.  Dale's team sits in 4th, heading into Saturday, 5 points out of 3rd place, 11 points out of 1st.  He'll need Hartnell to shape up as well and quickly.

It has been somewhat of an irregular occurrence this season, but it has happened once before, according to my counts, as Jordie Benn was a healthy scratch for the Stars last night in Edmonton.  The older of the two Benn brothers has actually chipped in here and there this season, picking up 7 assists in 25 games this year, but has been known to spend some time in the press box.  Now having been there twice, he might find his way back to blog from time to time.

Especially since Ryan picked him up in the 2nd round of the Waiver Draft, as he dropped Ottawa's Patrick Wiercioch to acquire him.  It is a step up for Ryan, which is the point of the mid-season player swap and since Benn is playing far more than Wiercioch, it does give him a better chance for points on a night to night basis.

The announcement on Saturday morning may have caught a few media types by surprise, but I don't think anyone in the pool is all that surprised... the Chicago Blackhawks placed forward Viktor Tikhonov on waivers, likely for the purpose of sending him down to the minors.  Tikhonov has not been the player that the Blackhawks were hoping for, bringing him back from the KHL after a long stint back home, as he has failed to register a point in 11 games and has only sat in the box for 6 minutes.

This pick was a home run swing for Grant, which didn't pan out for him at all.  With the 2nd drop/pick in the Waiver Draft, Grant successfully acquired Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings to replace the non-scoring Russian, which should be a big move in the overall standings and in the rookie race.

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