Thursday, June 11, 2015

Dupuis Expected Back in 2016

Okay, it hasn't happened quite yet, but it is expected that Pascal Dupuis will be suiting up for the Pittsburgh Penguins in October, starting the 2015-16 season in as close to full health, as he'll likely get.

Dupuis' 2015 season was cut short abruptly after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung, which limited his year to only 16 games, where he still picked up 11 points and was right in the middle of the scoring race.

The initial prognosis was that the blood clot would be, at best, keeping Dupuis out about six months and that was back in November, so getting clearance to return in June is closer to eight months, but getting clearance is the most important part of this story.

The 36-year old veteran will have to stay on blood thinners, but they appear to be a type of medication which will allow him to keep playing, according to the team.  Some blood thinners, from what I have read in other situations, like Tomas Vokoun, wouldn't allow him to play.

From a hockey pool standpoint, Dupuis a regular fixture in the draft and it's good news that he will be back, I'm sure he will feature in the hockey pool projections in August/September, but he will likely come with a word of warning, maybe even making an appearance in the Injury Prone List, which means he should likely have his projections discounted some, especially since you'd be betting on his production.

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