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Matt Carkner News
Matt Carkner will join Sens in New Jersey tomorrow, but won't play. Saturday vs Vancouver is earliest return date for him.

If Carkner gets regular playing time, he could be worth a look as a PIM stream. The defender is a bona fide heavyweight which should give him some usefulness in fantasy hockey.

Matt Carkner
Carkner will play Wednesday in Binghamton then be available to suit up for Ottawa anytime after Thursday game in N.J. #nhl #sens

Carkner will add some toughness to the Sens lineup when he gets back in. Look for Brian Lee and one of the two rookies to rotate in and out of the lineup.

Matt Carkner
Everybody else came out at 11:00am, with Matt Carkner once again being a full participant.

Carkner's return adds grit and another heavyweight to the lineup. However, it creates a logjam on the blue line with David Rundblad and Brian Lee already vying for playing time. Carkner's ability to post double-digits in points while racking up 150 PIM made him unique in fantasy leagues and should garner some interest once healthy.

Matt Carkner
Matt Carkner has been cleared to practice fully; could return sometime in next 2 weeks

Carkner's return adds grit and another heavyweight to the lineup. However, it creates a logjam on the blue line with David Rundblad and Brian Lee already vying for playing time. Carkner's ability to post double-digits in points while racking up 150 PIM made him unique in fantasy leagues and should garner some interest once healthy.

Matt Carkner
Matt Carkner, on the road back after knee surgery, also practised with the team on Wednesday morning. That’s a positive sign, too, said MacLean, but his return is not as close as Alfredsson’s. Carkner’s still probably a few weeks away.

Carkner's return will further complicate the back end with either one of the eight NHL defenders moving back to the AHL or moving the heavyweight back to forward. The Winchester, Ontario had been a valuable player in the past and should be a decent PIM stream.

Matt Carkner
Butler and Carkner on the ice this morning...not ready to play yet but obviously gettting closer to returning to the lineup

Carkner's presence certainly will give opposing teams less leeway with the Sens more talented players. From a fantasy hockey perspective he remains a solid PIM stream on the blue line. Monitor him closely as few defensemen can match his production.

Matt Carkner
The knee was the same one that had been operated on in April. Murray said Carkner may have aggravated his knee by the vigourous training he did this summer to rehabilitate it. He needed the surgery to clean out chips that had come loose.

After posting 326 PIM over the past two seasons, Carkner should be viewed as a legitimate heavyweight in the League. Only Theo Peckham posted more PIM last season, so the 30-year-old will be hard to replace on your roster.

Matt Carkner