Honestly folks this is getting ridiculous. If you care about your star players please, do the right thing, lock them up somewhere safe, padded and guarded, because we haven’t played a single game that matters yet and key guys are dropping like flies.The pain train continues to chuggeth along around the league and picked up not one, not two, but three new passengers guaranteed to make their owners bust out the sadface. I’m not sure what the hell is going on this preseason but it seems like everyone and their mama is getting hurt before a single game that means anything is played! At any rate, all we can do is take it in stride and not get stuck drafting the wrong guys and the wrong guys start with Derek Stepan. Step broke his leg in an apparent non-contact injury during a conditioning drill. So not only did the Rangers no. 1 center break his leg at a time where nothing counts, he wasn’t even in a game. He couldn’t be in a game because he missed the previous tilt with the Devils due to a foot injury. Yikes. He followed that up by fracturing his fibula and unfortunately there is no timetable for his return. It sounds like he could easily be out 4-6 weeks and possibly as long as two months or more. I know his deal was way out of whack for what he could contribute, but you have to think that Brad Richards stings the Rangers just a little bit right now. This injury really leaves them in a bind and J.T. Miller seems like a possible replacement for Step on the top line with Rick Nash and Chris Kreider. Whoever it is it’s someone you don’t want to bother with. Drop Stepan off your draft sheets because baby, he isn’t even worth drafting right now unless you’re in a very deep league with IR slots to burn.
Stepan wasn’t the only guy to break a leg last night, Jordan Staal didn’t want him to feel lonely so he went ahead and broke his lower leg in a game vs. the Sabres last night. Like Stepan there is no time table for his return and he could be out for as long as two months, or more. Staal wasn’t high on my list o’ wants this season, but he’s a serviceable guy at least. Unlike Stepan I wouldn’t bother rostering Staal in any leagues, IR slots or not.
Pavel Datsyuk decided to join the party and to a chorus of “Why always us?!” from the Wings faithful he suffered a second-degree shoulder separation taking a hit from Rob Scuderi the other night, he’ll be out for up to a month. The Wings drop the puck on their regular season opener in just a bit over two weeks, so expect Dats to miss the first week or two of the season. This doesn’t really affect his rankings or projections much as we all expected him to get hurt sooner than later, just not so soon.
