Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 6)

A "nagging lower-body injury" has kept Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin at home this weekend, as they travel through Florida, starting with last night in Tampa Bay.  It was a bold decision move, especially with the Penguins falling out of a wild card playoff spot with their loss to the Lightning last night, but obviously, the team is looking at the long-term scenario, wanting the other top end centre on their team to be ready for the stretch run.  For now, he's considered day-to-day, expected to return next week.

The injury may have an impact on a few Penguins players, as Malkin has been having a decent season, but he is mired on the team leading the pool in PIM and he has been a good contributor to that cause as well.  For Wes' team this year, Malkin ranks tied for 28th in PIM, with 57 minutes this year.

How about some positive roster news this morning? Johnny Boychuk, defenseman for the Islanders, has finally been activated from the Injured Reserve on Saturday morning, after he has been out since the end of December with a shoulder injury.  The Islanders have a pair of games this weekend and I would assume that he would be 100% to play in both games or else they may have rested him further, but we'll wait and see.

Great news for Derek W., who practically gets a Waiver Draft pick-up for free this weekend and he's activated a couple days early with this news.  Derek's team appears to be pretty healthy for Saturday and Sunday, but that hasn't stopped him from making tweaks in his roster this week as well.  He's ready for the stretch run.

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