This morning the news of Thrashers defenseman Tobias Enstrom breaking his finger putting him out for 2-4 weeks and out of the All-Star Game on Sunday meant that a spot opened up in the game for another defenseman. The NHL wasted no time today in naming a replacement and chose wisely going with Phoenix blue liner Keith Yandle to take his spot.
This season, Yandle is Phoenix’s leading scorer with seven goals and 33 assists and has been one of the NHL’s better defensemen all year long. Yandle was a rather apparent snub when the players were announced for this year’s game but a glaring error is now fixed. For Yandle, it’s his first all-star selection.
As for the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft on Friday night, there’s ten defensemen in the draft pool right now thanks to Nick Lidstrom being named captain of one of the sides and Washington’s Mike Green named as an assistant captain of Eric Staal’s team. With Yandle being a solid assist man on the blue line, expect both Lidstrom and Staal to be intrigued by his addition to the pool.
