Raanta Out Indefinitely

The news on Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta deteriorated last week and really hit rock bottom on Sunday, when the team announced that after undergoing a surgical procedure on his lower-body injury, they determined that the damage suffered down there was much worse than initially reported and now there is a real fear that he could miss the rest of the regular season.

Raanta appeared in 12 games for the Coyotes and posted 5 wins and 11 points in those games, really keeping his team competitive in most of those games.  The injury situation in Arizona hasn't been great, as the team is now running with no pool goalies active on their roster and it has really shown in the standings, as they are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games.

This news is a week too late for Brian's hockey pool team and that's very unfortunate.  Raanta, if he was to return, would be the number one guy for the Coyotes and would get the bulk of the starts, but now that there is an expectation that he won't be back this season, certainly not within the second segment of the season, Brian's team is now eight more weeks without him, before he can make the switch in the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft. 

Brian's team still ranks 10th in the hockey pool in the overall standings and has made some gains over the last month, where his team finished Week Eight in 15th place and is now up to 10th.  His team is 13th in forward points and tied for 13th in defense points and still has the reigning Player of the Week in Mike Smith in net.  It's not all bad, but it's not ideal.