Friday, March 30, 2012

Sheet Player News (Mar. 30)

The Boston Bruins were without Box 28 defenseman Dennis Seidenberg on Thursday night, due to an infected cut on his leg, to which he will remain out of the line-up, taking antibiotics and likely getting some rest down the stretch.  He should be considered day-to-day for the time being, with a high likelihood of missing at least another game on the weekend.  The Bruins are now in the playoffs and they should be considering making sure everyone is healthy and ready to go, so Seidenberg will get a doctor-ordered vacation from the game for a little bit.

The Bruins blue line also took another hit, as Box 30 defenseman Adam McQuaid left Thursday night's game against the Capitals with an upper-body injury after taking a massive hit into the boards, which saw Jason Chimera ejected for boarding.  McQuaid was bloody and disoriented, leaving the ice, so the likelihood is that the defender did suffer a concussion, but the official word has not come down yet.

Box 12 defenseman Steve Montador can't seem to catch a break in the latter part of the season and it may cost him his playoffs participation. Not long after returning from a concussion, he was struck in the head with a puck on a shot from Devils defenseman Mark Fayne and he has indeed suffered another concussion.  Two concussions in quick succession is not likely going to help his cause and of course, his time table for his return will not be set, but protocol would at least have him eligible to return in the middle of next week, but I wouldn't count on it.

Something that I had missed earlier on in the month was Sami Lepisto's leg injury, which has been keeping him out for nearly the entire month of March.  Lepisto suffered his injury on the 9th against the Blues and he has been skating of late, so a return is slowly becoming possible, but his inclusion on the playoff pool sheet was omitted and his value ends at the end of the regular season.

The Blackhawks up front are seemingly getting healthy again, as Brendan Morrison found his way back up to the press box on Thursday night and the Box 4 forward's value this year has dropped off the side of a cliff.  Morrison fell out of favour in an unskilled Flames team and there didn't look to be much chance that he would find much of a home with the Blackhawks, but at the overall cost, it probably wasn't a terrible gamble.  Morrison will not have any every day value in the playoffs, hence his omission from the playoff pool as well.

A lower-body injury was the reason why Mikael Samuelsson was unable to go for the Panthers on Thursday night in Minnesota.  I haven't been able to find much for details on his injury, but there is a chance that it could be an excuse for the Panthers to rest him, as they go into Friday's action in the Southeast Division lead and facing a lesser opponent in the Wild, it all adds up to a good time to do something like that.  If there is something more to this injury, it will probably listed, as Samuelsson is on the playoff pool sheet and the Panthers could be a viable option for some points.

Earlier this week, the Maple Leafs ended their emergency recall with Nazem Kadri, which was another point that was missed, likely due to the lesser importance of the news byte itself.  Kadri's usefulness was on full display with his last recall, which should give a little bit more hope to Leafs fans for next season.  It has been a long wait for Kadri, but with a couple more goals under his belt and a shootout game-winner against the Devils, he'll be an okay player next year and maybe even a selection sheet gem.

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