Saturday, February 25, 2012

Draft Player News (Feb. 25)

The Colorado Avalanche are expecting to be without their captain Milan Hejduk on Saturday evening, when they take on the Detroit Red Wings. Hejduk is dealing with a groin problem and has already been counted out for the game, but there has been no decision or announcement about any time past the game on Saturday night.  We'll consider him day-to-day for right now.  The long-term prognosis may decide the overall fate of the Avalanche at the trade deadline, whether or not they buy or sell, as will the result against Detroit.

Not good news for Benson G., who is chasing down a money position in the draft.  Going into Saturday night's action, Benson sits 8 points out of 5th place with a team in front of him in 6th, so he'll need a big week from those players active on Saturday.

Being placed on waivers may suggest that defenseman Grant Clitsome may not have had much for trade value this week, as teams can now claim him for nothing on the waiver wire on Monday.  Clitsome was placed on waivers by the Blue Jackets on Saturday and in doing so, they will have to wait until Monday, just hours before the trade deadline, to know if he has been claimed or not.  In 51 games, Clitsome has 14 points (4 goals and 10 assists) and has seemingly fallen out of favour in Columbus.

Chris M.. thought he would get better results out of Clitsome this season, but the 26-year old blueliner hasn't made great strides in his development in the 2012 season.  He is one of the many reasons why Chris' team has not done well this year and it seems unlikely that he'll be claimed and improvement will be seen.

On the second of back-to-back nights for the Vancouver Canucks, the team decided to err on the side of caution with oft-injured defenseman Sami Salo, by giving him the night off in New Jersey.  With the Canucks currently on a road trip, keeping bodies healthy and utilizing the other bodies that they have on the trip with them is hardly a bad idea.  The Canucks go again on Sunday afternoon in Dallas, which it is expected to see Salo in the line-up for that game.

The long-term theoretical benefits of scratching Salo should appeal to Dale C., who has him in the draft, but while jockeying for the last money spot in the standings, no one wants to see any of their players scratched for a game.  Dale lost the 5th place position last night to Wayne H., only to the goals scored tie-breaker, which he trails by 1.

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