The Daily Puck: What's Wrong With Brodeur?

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.

Toronto (Jonas Gustavsson) at Boston (Tim Thomas), 7:00 ET
Edmonton (Jeff Deslauriers) at Columbus (Steve Mason), 7:00 ET
Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Ottawa (Brian Elliott), 7:00 ET
Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov) at Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 ET
Washington (Michael Neuvirth) at Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom), 8:00 ET
St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak) at Nashville (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 ET
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) at Dallas (Kari Lehtonen), 8:30 ET
Colorado (Peter Budaj) at Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff), 9:30 ET

Injuries for Teams Playing Thursday

Day-to-Day (including IR players close to returning)
 
Toronto
Kris Versteeg, RW (back) - Didn't practice Wednesday, but considered likely to play Thursday
Colby Armstrong, LW, TOR (hand) - Will need surgery; out 4-to-6 weeks

Boston
Marc Savard, C, BOS (post-concussion syndrome) - Skating, but no timetable
Marco Sturm, LW, BOS (knee) - Skating and regaining strength in surgically repaired knee; likely out through most of November at least
Johnny Boychuk, D, BOS (forearm) - Out for the next four weeks with an injured forearm sustained in the Rangers game

Edmonton
Kurtis Foster, D (groin) - Doubtful for Thursday, though his injury isn't serious

Columbus
Kristian Huselius, RW (foot) - Having a hard time putting on skates; doubtful for Thursday
Kris Russell, D (lower body) - Likely to return Thursday

Florida
Shawn Matthias, C (foot) - Missed the last two games; status for Thursday still up in the air

Ottawa
Jason Spezza, C (groin) - Won't play Thursday

Detroit
Jonathan Ericsson, D (back) - Full participant in practice Wednesday for the first time since being hurt; should be back within the week
Brad Stuart, D (illness) - Missed practice Wednesday, but expected to play Thursday

Washington
Semyon Varlamov, G, WAS (undisclosed) - Not traveling with the team on the current road trip
Boyd Gordon, C (undisclosed) - Coach said he was "fine," then he didn't play Wednesday. Something we don't know about is going on here, but what? Assume he's out Thursday unless you hear otherwise.
Marcus Johansson, C (hip) - Has missed two straight; no word yet on Thursday status, but consider him questionable
Tom Poti, D (undisclosed) - Didn't make the trip to Carolina, so he's likely out Thursday in Minnesota as well

Minnesota
Cam Barker, D (groin) - Practiced Wednesday and may return Thursday
Chuck Kobasew, RW (groin) - Missed Wednesday's practice and looking doubtful for Thursday's game
Guillaume Latendresse, LW (groin) - Must have been one heck of a party in Minnesota; how else to explain all these groin injuries? Out Thursday and questionable for Saturday
Pierre-Marc Bouchard, C, MIN (concussion) - Back to full-contact practice, but still likely a few weeks away

St. Louis
Roman Polak, D (wrist) - Will need surgery and is out indefinitely

Nashville
Marcel Goc, C (shoulder) - Out at least another week
Matthew Lombardi, C (concussion) - Currently "week-to-week," so likely out quite a bit longer
Ryan Suter, D (leg) - Still not skating and will miss at least two more games

Los Angeles
Drew Doughty, D, LOS (concussion) - May return as soon as Saturday
Scott Parse, RW, LOS (groin) - Skating at full speed and could be close to returning

Dallas
Ed Jovanovski, D (upper body) - Expected to return Thursday
Ray Whitney, LW (upper body) - Also expected to return Thursday
Stephane Robidas, D, DAL (suspension) - Will miss one game for boarding and hurting Matt Beleskey
 
Colorado
David Koci, LW (jaw) - Roughly a week from returning
Craig Anderson, G, COL (knee) - Won't need surgery, but out indefinitely

Calgary
David Moss, LW (shoulder) - Close to returning to game action, but no word on Thursday status yet
Ales Kotalik, RW (knee) - Knee brace is off, but not skating yet
 
Injuries for All Other Teams
Marian Hossa, RW, CHI (upper body) - Left Wednesday's game in the second period
Anton Volchenkov, D, NJD (head) - Skating, but out until Saturday at the earliest
Dan Hamhuis, D, VAN (foot) - Team is hopeful he can return Monday vs. Devils
Andrew Alberts, D, VAN (knee) - Hurt in Tuesday's game; getting an MRI
Jochen Hecht, LW, BUF (lower body) - Hurt in Tuesday's game, but expected in the lineup Friday
Tim Connolly, C, BUF (undisclosed) - Missed Wednesday's practice; no word as to why
Andrej Sekera, D, BUF (hand, upper body) - Scratched Tuesday; Friday status uncertain
Mattias Ohlund, D, TAM (knee) - Saw limited minutes Wednesday in return to game action
Dominic Moore, C, TAM (groin) - Didn't play Wednesday
Matt Beleskey, LW, ANA (undisclosed) - Left Tuesday's game, but said he's fine on Twitter

Transactions

Cam Janssen, RW, STL - Activated
Nathan Oystrick, D, STL - Recalled from AHL
Philip Larsen, D, DAL - Recalled from AHL

Hot

Ryan Callahan, RW, NYR - After a slow start (points-wise) to the season, Callahan has really started clicking with linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, and the result is a four-game points streak during which Callahan has two goals and four assists.
 
Steven Stamkos, C, TAM - October 16. That's the only game this season Stamkos hasn't recorded a point. He scored in three straight before that and now has scored in five straight since. Stamkos has 12 points in those five games and 18 in nine games overall this year. He's written his own invitation into the Crosby-Ovechkin elite club.
 
Martin St. Louis, RW, TAM - It's really not fair for Stamkos and St. Louis to play together. Marty picked up two goals and an assist Wednesday to stretch his points streak to five games; he has eight points over that period.
 
Brendan Morrison, C, CGY - Well, look who remembered how to score. Morrison has recorded a point in five of his last six games, and most recently potted a couple goals Tuesday against Edmonton.
 
Cold

Mike Green, D, WAS - One point in six games. Five straight games without a point. An injury has really slowed his start to the season. Buy low if you can.
 
Eric Staal, C, CAR - No points and a minus-three over his past two games. It's been an odd season so far for Staal, who has three multi-point games (a goal and an assist in each), five scoreless games, and nothing in between.
Rick Nash, RW, CLM - Nash has just four points in eight games this year, and really has done very little outside of a two-goal game against Anaheim a week ago. Since then: three games, one assist, minus-three. But he's still shooting and the points will come.
 
Martin Brodeur, G, NJD - The two shutouts this year gave us flashes of the old (or should I say young), brilliant Brodeur, but he's now started nine games this year and posted a sub-.900 save percentage in six of them after spotting five goals to the Sharks on Wednesday. October has always been his worst month, but if he doesn't get it going in November, time to start worrying.

Recommended Pickup

Andrei Kostitsyn, LW, MON - Here is a guy, 25 years old with proven scoring talent (53 points as a 22-year-old) whose development has been slowed by injury. He's healthy now and has 10 points in nine games, including six goals, and yet he's available in more than a quarter of Yahoo leagues. Time to fix that.