Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Injury Updates (Sep 22)

The Chicago Blackhawks are dealing with a minor injury concern with their prized rookie, as Artemi Panarin is dealing with a small upper-body injury, which the coaching staff expects him to be sidelined for a few days with.

Panarin has been getting some pretty good reviews early on in this preseason and it might be worth a question mark (in pencil), as to whether or not he'll be able to handle the rigors of the North American game.  Panarin could be an excellent late round guy, so keep an eye out for his condition before draft day.

A minor injury update from Edmonton, as Teddy Purcell appears to be dealing with a minor knock in the early part of the preseason.  The coaching staff suggests that he's just day-to-day for the time being and nothing more.  This is just one more thing to keep an eye on with the upstarting Oilers.

Purcell's job isn't really in question, as he lines up with some of the better forwards on the team.  He could turn into a very positive asset, with the team's up-tempo offense that is projected.

Another possible candidate for the rookie pool scoring race, Montreal's Nikita Scherbak, left practice early on Monday, citing a lower-body injury.  The team doesn't think it is too serious and he will likely be re-evaluated today to see what the extent of the injury is.

Scherbak is one of the kids that did get a projection in my early season numbers, but he isn't drawing the same kind of attention as a number of other rookies are getting, while the Canadiens have a group of forwards that would be hard to crack without a big camp.

There was a design for the Pittsburgh Penguins to dress newcomer Nick Bonino in their game against the Blue Jackets last night, but he was feeling under the weather, so he was held out for another body to slot in.  Bonino's roster spot on the team isn't really in doubt, so giving another guy an opportunity to get some ice-time in front of the coaches is a big plus for the club.

Consistently, Bonino has been projected between 40 and 50 points this season through all the publications, most of them still considering he's a member of the Canucks.  It will be interesting to see where he draws into the lineup, because you could likely boost his numbers, if he somehow found his way into the top six.

In last night's preseason game against the Sharks, Canucks forward Christopher Higgins had to leave the game with a lower-body injury.  Higgins hasn't been a draft favourite, rather, he's found himself to be a guy in the Waiver Draft, more often than not.  He hasn't scored a great deal in Vancouver and doesn't exactly create much buzz for himself.

The update above came early this afternoon and it doesn't look good for Higgins.  No timetable has been given yet.  Check the News Page for updates.

Click here for the updated injury/news page on the website

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