The Daily Puck: Suter Sidelined

The Daily Puck
Andrew Fiorentino, RotoWire Writer

Projected Goalie Starters

For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid.

NY Rangers (Martin Biron) at Toronto (Jonas Gustavsson), 7:00 ET
Washington (Semyon Varlamov) at Boston (Tim Thomas), 7:00 ET
Anaheim (Curtis McElhinney) at Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky), 7:00 ET
New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) at Montreal (Carey Price), 7:30 ET
Dallas (Kari Lehtonen) at Florida (Tomas Vokoun), 7:30 ET
Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff) at Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 ET
NY Islanders (Dwayne Roloson) at Tampa Bay (Dan Ellis), 7:30 ET
Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Nashville (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 ET
San Jose (Antti Niemi) at Colorado (Craig Anderson), 9:00 ET
Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom) at Edmonton (Nikolai Khabibulin), 9:30 ET
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) at Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov), 10:00 ET

Injuries for Teams Playing Thursday

Day-to-Day (including IR players close to returning)

Washington

Mike Green, D (shoulder) - Practiced Wednesday, could play Thursday; check later in the day
Matt Bradley, RW (lower body) - Practiced Wednesday after missing Tuesday's game, and could go Thursday

Anaheim

Cam Fowler, D (face) - Could play Thursday night; game-time decision

Dallas

Jamie Benn, LW, DAL (concussion) - Practiced Wednesday, likely back in the lineup Thursday

Calgary

Corey Sarich, D (wear and tear) - Sat out Wednesday's practice due to "general maintenance," which I thought was for cars, generally; likely to play Thursday
Adam Pardy, D (shoulder) - Missed Tuesday

Detroit

Justin Abdelkader, C, DET (ribs) - Should be available to play Thursday, but might sit another game or two
Jonathan Ericsson, D, DET (back) - Could return to action next week

NY Islanders

Josh Bailey, C (hip) - Has a hip pointer and unlikely for Thursday
Trent Hunter, RW (foot) - Practiced Wednesday and may go Thursday

Tampa Bay

Vincent Lecavalier, C (hand) - Practiced without contact Wednesday; probably won't play Thursday, but check back.

Pittsburgh

Brooks Orpik, D (groin) - Doubtful for Thursday; more likely for Saturday

Colorado

Brandon Yip, RW (groin) - Practiced Wednesday, but questionable for Thursday.
David Jones, LW (forearm) - Missed Wednesday's practice; questionable for Thursday.

Los Angeles

Drew Doughty, D (upper body) - Won't play Thursday, but could join the team later on the road trip

Phoenix

Ed Jovanovski, D (upper body) - Expected to return Thursday
Ray Whitney, LW (upper body) - Also expected to return Thursday

Long-Term Injuries or IR

Matt Greene, D, LOS (shoulder) - Cleared to resume full contact and should return during the current road trip.
Jamie Lundmark, C, NAS (groin) - Cleared waivers and will go to the AHL after starting the season on IR
Ryan Suter, D, NAS (lower body) - Placed on IR and will miss the next three games; aiming for Oct. 28 return
Matt Walker, D, PHI (hip) - Needs surgery and will miss 10-12 weeks
Martin Hanzal, C, PHO (lower body) - Placed on IR, but supposed to miss only 1-2 weeks
David Koci, LW, COL (jaw) - Could return to practice next week
Byron Bitz, RW, FLA (hernia) - Underwent surgery Tuesday and will miss an estimated six weeks
Andrei Markov, D, MON (knee) - Won't return Thursday, but supposed to be getting closer
Arron Asham, RW, PIT (shoulder) - Skating with the team, but still no word on return
Jordan Staal, C, PIT (foot) - Skated in practice Wednesday and could return by the end of the month
Zybnek Michalek, D, PIT (shoulder) - Skated before practice Wednesday, but no timetable for return
Kris Draper, LW, DET (hernia) - Underwent surgery and will miss 4-6 weeks
Mattias Ohlund, D, TAM (knee) - Skated with the team Thursday morning; could return in about a week

Injuries for All Other Teams

Nikolai Antropov, LW, ATL (hip) - Could see some rest soon, as he's still not 100%
Zach Bogosian, D, ATL (shoulder) - Making progress, but missed Wednesday's game; could return Friday
Shaone Morrisson, D, BUF (groin) - Missed Wednesday's game, but close to returning
Ethan Moreau, LW, CLM (hand) - Broke his hand Wednesday and placed on IR, so he'll miss significant time
Anton Stralman, D, CLM (upper body) - Scratched Wednesday
Kris Russell, D, CLM (lower body) - Scratched Wednesday
Pascal Leclaire, G, OTT (groin) - Progressing well in rehab, and could return soon
Rick Rypien, RW, VAN (suspension) - Suspended indefinitely after altercation with fan

Transactions

Jamie Lundmark, C, NAS - Activated from IR, cleared waivers and sent to the AHL
Martin Hanzal, C, PHO - Placed on IR
Ethan Moreau, LW, CLM - Placed on IR
Zack Smith, C, OTT - Sent to AHL
Jiri Tlusty, C, CAR - Called up from AHL conditioning stint, according to CBS and Fox Sports transactions pages, but I can't find any other confirmation on this; will update in comments later

Hot

John-Michael Liles, D, COL - Raise your hand if you knew Liles was the NHL's highest-scoring defenseman. Liles' eight assists in six games give him the most points among blueliners so far this season, and unlike some of the other early-season success stories, Liles has done it before, as he's been a double-digit goal scorer four times and has reached 40 points twice, with a career high of 49 in his sophomore season.

Matt Cullen, C, MIN - Cullen has racked up three goals and five assists in just five games. The downside: He's a veteran player about to turn 34 who has never broken the 50-point mark. The upside: seven of his eight points have come on the power play, and if he continues seeing serious PP time as he has so far, he could post very fantasy-relevant point totals.

Corey Perry, RW, ANA - After being held scoreless in his first three games, Perry exploded for six points over the next three, then went scoreless again in a loss to Columbus. File him under "hot" despite the scoreless outing, as Perry has scored more than 70 points each of the last two seasons.

Cold 

Zach Parise, LW, NJD - We're still waiting for the light to come on for Parise this year, as he has just two points in six games and hasn't scored a goal since the season opener. The bright side is that he's been shooting plenty, with 17 shots over his last three games, so it's just a matter of time before he gets back to being himself.

Chris Pronger, D, PHI - Pronger hasn't gotten on the board in three games so far this year after last year's 55-point campaign. He's also taken just four shots on goal and delivered just two hits, so it's very possible that he's still feeling the lingering effects of his knee injury. Temper expectations in the short term.

Recommended Pickup

James Neal, LW, Dallas - After scoring 55 points, including 27 goals, as a sophomore last year, you'd figure fantasy owners would have some more love for Neal. Apparently not; he's owned in just 55% of Yahoo leagues. The big, offensively talented Neal has racked up seven points (3 G, 4 A) in five contests this year, is a plus-seven, has eight PIM, and even collected 13 hits. What's not to love? Neal should be universally owned, as he's one of the best young power forwards in the game.