Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 25)

With both Leon Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula coming off the IR, the struggling Edmonton Oilers needed to shake up their lineup one way or another to both fit the returning players back and give the team some motivation, ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. So, to make room, out of the lineup came Jussi Jokinen, sending him up to the press box as a healthy scratch.  Jokinen has not been very productive to start his first season in Edmonton, having only 1 assist in seven games, also not adding that veteran presence that helps to dig through tough games.  The shake-up didn't quite work, as the Oilers still lost in overtime, 2-1.

Stacey C. got a key return in this one, while Brenda & Seward lost a man game to a healthy scratch here.  Stacey's proxy team currently sits in 18th place, 20 points up on Brenda & Seward's 25th place team, but still sits 23 points out of 1st place.

Islanders defenseman Dennis Seidenberg continues to be a part of a steady rotation on the team's blueline in the early part of this season and after returning to the lineup over the weekend, Seidenberg found his way back up to the press box as a healthy scratch and the Islanders were eventual 5-3 winners over the Coyotes.  This doesn't appear to be something that is going to change any time soon or improve for Seidenberg, especially if the Islanders keep winning with him out of the lineup.  I wouldn't expect any changes for their next game.

The 36-year old defender isn't helping Neil's team any, by sitting up in the press box.  His team ranks 23rd in skater games played, thanks in part to the scratches for the German defender, already 26 games back of the leader in the category, Jeremy.

Well, if we thought the Golden Knights were going to start making moves to help players like Vadim Shipachyov or Shea Theodore from not playing in the minors, their ridiculous 7-1-0 record would be a good argument not to do so. With Jonathan Marchessault returning from his injury on Tuesday night, coming off the IR, room had to be made and that meant Shipachyov was the odd-man out again, as he doesn't have to pass through waivers to get to the AHL.  In his time with the Golden Knights, Shipachyov played in three games and only registered a single goal, so he didn't exactly provide a good argument to stay.

The return of Marchessault was a plus for Benson, who sees his team in the top 10 still, while Stacey M. has seen her team creep up to the top 10, but the loss of a body won't help her cause too much in the foreseeable future.

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