In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll look at each team's fantasy MVP for the second half of the season. When I think about value in fantasy hockey, I think about players who have outperformed expectations. So, this isn't just a list of each team's best player or leading scorer, but rather it's a list of players whose contributions outweigh their preseason acquisition cost.

Boston Bruins – David Krejci  

The 35-year-old forward had a quiet start to the season, posting 13 points in 23 games through the first two months of the 2021 campaign. He found his stride in the second half, tallying 31 points in 28 appearances. Ten of those points came with the man advantage, a category in which Krejci leads the team over these past two months.  That's incredible production for a guy who wasn't drafted in most Yahoo fantasy leagues and was selected outside the top-150 when he was drafted.

Buffalo Sabres – Sam Reinhart

The 25-year-old forward led the team in scoring this year, posting 40 points in 54 appearances.

He scored 14 goals in 28 games during the second half, which places him tenth in league goal-scoring during that span. Reinhart was probably dropped in a lot of leagues when he registered just one point through eight games in mid-March – shortly after Jack Eichel was injured. Fortunately, Reinhart closed out the campaign with 19 points in 22 games after that scoring drought. Honourable mention for Buffalo's fantasy MVP goes to Casey Mittelstadt, who finished second in team scoring during the second half. He posted 16 points in his final 21 games after opening the year with six points in his first 20 outings.

Carolina Hurricanes – Alex Nedeljkovic

The 25-year-old netminder posted a 9-3-2 record, 1.78 GAA and .934 save percentage in the second half of the season. To those that argue that Nedeljkovic's numbers are solely a product of Carolina's strong defense, Petr Mrazek posted a .914 save percentage in eight games during the second half, while James Reimer posted a .903 save percentage in six appearances.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Oliver Bjorkstrand

Bjorkstrand led Columbus in scoring during the second half, posting 21 points in 26 games. To give you some perspective, Jack Roslovic sat second in team scoring during that span and he posted 15 points in 25 games. Bjorkstrand's offensive abilities have been on full-display over these past two years as he's now posted a 60-point pace in back-to-back seasons. It will be interesting to see if his point totals improve now that defensively minded head coach John Tortorella is parting ways with the Blue Jackets. Bjorkstrand has never really seen a prominent role on the power play, so more time with the man advantage could help him find a 70- or even 80-point pace in the coming years. Honourable mention for Columbus' fantasy MVP goes to Elvis Merzlikins, who posted a .922 save percentage and 2.61 GAA through 17 appearances in the second half. Unfortunately, his 4-9-3 record prevented him from claiming the team's fantasy MVP title.

Detroit Red Wings – Thomas Greiss   

The 35-year-old netminder posted a 7-4-4 record alongside a .936 save percentage and 2.04 GAA in the second half. He outperformed Jonathan Bernier, who went 2-6-1 while registering a .920 save percentage and 2.93 GAA. I couldn't justify giving the fantasy MVP title to any of Detroit's skaters as Adam Erne led the team in scoring with just 13 points in 25 games. Sure, Jakub Vrana posted a point-per-game pace since arriving in Detroit, but he only made 11 appearances with the Red Wings.

Florida Panthers – MacKenzie Weegar

There are quite a few fantasy MVP candidates in Florida. Anthony Duclair posted 20 points in his final 22 games, rebounding from a slow start that saw him post just 12 points in his first 21 outings. After opening the year with 12 points in 38 games with the Flames, Sam Bennett tallied 15 points in 10 games since he was traded to the Panthers. Chris Driedger was outstanding in net, posting a 7-3-1 record alongside a 1.70 GAA and .935 save percentage in the second half.  Despite those incredible showings, I had to give this one to Mackenzie Weegar. The 27-year-old defenseman put up 19 points in his final 26 games – only eight defensemen across the league had more points than Weegar in that span. In the second half, he sits second among all skaters in the plus/minus category with a plus-19. He also ranks among the top-20 defenseman for both hits and blocks. That's incredible production from a guy who wasn't drafted in most fantasy leagues.

Montreal Canadiens – Nick Suzuki

The 21-year-old sophomore had a decent first half, posting 17 points in 27 games. Suzuki was drafted in only 55-percent of Yahoo leagues and might have been dropped in a few of them as he closed out the first half of the season with five points in 15 games. He stepped it up in the second half, leading the Canadiens in scoring with 22 points through 28 outings. It's hard to give this title to anyone else on Montreal's roster as most of the team's skaters saw their production drop in the second half of the year.

New Jersey Devils – Pavel Zacha

The 24-year-old forward posted 18 points in his final 23 appearances of the year. Notably, 10 of those 18 points were goals. He also led the team with seven power-play points in the second half. Zacha finishes the year 35 points in 50 games, which translates to 57 points over 82 games. That's pretty good for a player that went undrafted in most fantasy leagues! Overall, it's been an impressive breakout showing from the sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft.

New York Islanders – Anthony Beauvillier  

The 23-year-old forward led the team in scoring during the second half of the season, tallying 22 points in 28 games. That includes 13 goals, which place him among the league's top-20 in the category. His strong showing down the stretch represents a significant improvement from the first half of the year, where he put up just six points in 19 games. You probably would have been able to pick him up from the waiver wire as he went undrafted in 98-percent of Yahoo leagues this season.

New York Rangers – Adam Fox  

The back half of the 2021 campaign featured a number of impressive individual performances from the Rangers roster. Mika Zibanejad bounced back from a disappointing first half and finished the season with 18 goals and 15 assists in his last 28 outings. Artemi Panarin was one of the league's top scorers, posting 34 points in 25 games. Ryan Strome put up 27 points in 28 appearances, improving on a solid first half that saw him tally 22 in 28. However, I have to give the team's fantasy MVP title to Adam Fox, who posted 31 points in his final 28 games and currently leads all defenseman in scoring during the second half. Fourteen of those points came with the man advantage as only Nathan Mackinnon (15) and Cale Makar (15) have more power-play points in the second half.

Ottawa Senators – Connor Brown

With 14 goals and six assists in his last 27 appearances, Connor Brown leads the Senators in scoring during the back half of the season. Notably, those 14 goals place him among the top-20 goal-scorers over the past two months. Brown bounced back from a slow start that saw him post six goals and eight assists through his first 28 outings of the year.

Philadelphia Flyers – Sean Couturier

There weren't many positives to take away from Philadelphia's disastrous second half, which saw the team win 10 of its final 28 games. Sean Couturier led the Flyers in scoring during the back half, posting 22 points in his last 27 appearances. He also led the team in goals, power-play points and shots during that span. The 28-year-old center finishes the year with 41 points in 45 games, marking the fourth-straight year he's scored at a 70-point pace.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Jared McCann

The Penguins forward started slowly with 10 points in his first 17 games, but he bounced back with 22 points through 26 appearances in the second half. He scored six power-play goals in the back-half of the season, which ranks third across the league's skaters. I'd say that's a pretty impressive finish for a guy who wasn't drafted in most fantasy formats. An honourable mention goes to Kris Letang, who put up 25 points in 28 games to close out the season. Adam Fox and Cale Makar are the only two defenders with more points in the second half.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Yanni Gourde

I was pretty surprised to see the lack of offense out of Tampa during the second half of the season. Brayden Point led the team in scoring, but he only had 21 points in 28 games. Yanni Gourde was right behind him with 20 points in 28 games. That's a small difference in production given the vast difference in expectations for the two players. Gourde was one of very few Lightning players who performed better in the second half than the first, so I decided to give him the team's fantasy MVP title.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Jack Campbell

It seems crazy that I'm not giving Toronto's fantasy MVP title to this year's Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews, who has 22 goals in his last 27 games. However, Matthews was a top pick in most fantasy drafts. With such a high acquisition cost comes high expectations, leaving less room for him to outperform those expectations and provide extra value to your fantasy roster. In contrast, Leafs netminder Jack Campbell wasn't really on the radar for most fantasy managers as the season got underway and was probably available on the waiver wire early on. Therefore, it's all the more impressive that Campbell posted a 14-2-2 record in these last two months, alongside a .919 save percentage and 2.24 GAA.

Washington Capitals – T.J. Oshie

Oshie led the team with 25 points in 27 games during the second half of the 2021 campaign. After scoring just six goals in his first 26 games, he managed 16 goals in the second half – which places him seventh among the league's skaters. Eight of those 16 goals were scored with the man advantage as only Mika Zibanejad had more power-play goals than Oshie in the second half. I'd say that's pretty impressive production for a player that was drafted outside the top-140 in your average Yahoo fantasy league.