Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 24)

It looks like Sam Reinhart's stay in Buffalo is being extended, one healthy scratch at a time. The 18-year old 1st round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres appears to be destined for the junior ranks again this season, has he has yet to register a point in his first six games of his NHL career. Reinhart only has three appearances left with the big club, before the team chooses to either burn a year of his entry-level deal or let the start of it slide to next season. Each healthy scratch doesn't burn a game on his 9-game tryout, but just the notion that he needs to sit every once and a while suggests he's not ready to play. The Sabres are not in any position to compete for a playoff spot, but they shouldn't be going out to stunt Reinhart's development, which a full year in the NHL could set him back.

There is still a chance that Troy could start collecting some points here soon from Reinhart, but it does seem to be somewhat remote.  It was a reasonable gamble with one of the last picks in the draft, but it looks like Reinhart will end up being a Waiver Draft drop in a few weeks time.

The New York Islanders have been rather unlucky with their injury situation to start the year, but they do continue to play some good hockey.  Forward Josh Bailey was the latest Islanders player to fall to injury, leaving the game after the 2nd period with a hand injury.  I haven't seen any updates on his status, so he will be considered day-to-day for the time being.

Bailey has been decent to start the year, but not among the Isles' best to start.  In the first seven games, the 25-year old forward has 2 goals and 2 assists, which isn't too bad for Scott's 13th round pick in the draft.  Scott heads into the weekend in 14th spot, 17 points out of 3rd place.

The Colorado Avalanche's goaltender situation has seemingly resolved itself and will be back to 100% on Friday night, when Semyon Varlamov goes out to take on the Canucks at home.  Varlamov has been out for the last week with a groin injury, spending some time on the Injured Reserve in that time.  The reports on Friday morning are saying that Varlamov is ready to go, so now he can finally get his season started, as he has no points in 157 minutes of work already this season.

Our pool's Basement Dweller will be happy to get his 1st round pick back in action, as Benson now sits 5 points out of moving out of the basement and getting his best player back should go a long ways to helping him out, assuming he can string together some wins.  Benson's team has remained average in goalie minutes, as Kari Lehtonen has been racking up the playing time in Dallas.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.