Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 3)

Blue Jackets defenseman Kevin Connauton was getting a good stretch of games in the team's lineup, as injuries were starting to stack up for the club. Once David Savard became healthy and ready to come back into the lineup, Connauton's numbers were assessed and he wasn't quite doing the job for the team, so back up to the press box he went.  With only 8 points in 27 games, he may be the odd-man out for the foreseeable future.

This could spell the end of days for Connauton in Wes' lineup, although we're still a number of weeks before the second Waiver Draft or even when the changes become active.  Wes needs PIM and the 21 minutes he's had from Connauton are good, but he needs to be in the lineup, to get into the penalty box.

Already a Player of the Week once this week, Mike Cammalleri has been a key part of the Devils offense this season, but it didn't appear that he was too critical, as the Devils beat the Stars on Saturday night without their number one scorer.  Cammalleri is currently listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but the team won't disclose the nature of the injury, only to say that he is questionable for Monday's game, at home to the Red Wings.  We'll keep an eye on this one.

Cammalleri has been one of those picks that has been keeping Neil afloat in the money conversation this season and his team goes into Sunday, only 9 points out of the money.  A quick return for Cammalleri will be key to continuing on that good pace.

The Philadelphia Flyers continue to quietly struggle, 7th in the Metropolitan Division, so a decision to scratch Matt Read shouldn't come as a surprise, since they are only 7 points out of a wild card spot in the East.  The loss to the Kings on Saturday probably means good things for Read, as he'll likely draw back in before too long, but changes may arise on this team before too long, either buying to stay in the race or selling to start thinking about the Summer.

Read was a Waiver Draft drop for Mike and a pick-up for Scott, which has worked out in his favour to a certain degree, although, it really hasn't been a huge success either.  Scott's team is roughly in the same place, as he was at the Waiver Draft, so his team has seen little improvement in the four weeks since.  This scratch is a testament to that statement.

Reports from last night's Flames/Avalanche game see Calgary forward Jiri Hudler pulled from action as a precautionary measure, as he is dealing with a lower-body issue.  The team has said that they will be running some tests on their veteran forward, checking to see what his availability will be like for Tuesday night's game, home to the Lightning.

It looks like Grant has all but locked up the Basement Dweller of the Week nod and the health of Hudler going forward may mean that there could be some more dweller nods in his immediate future.  Hudler has been shut out this week, in terms of points, and only has 20 points in 35 games this year.

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