In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll discuss players whose future fantasy value could be influenced by this year's playoff performance. For the most part, we'll talk about players who underperformed during the regular season that could change public perceptions with a strong showing in the postseason. These are players to keep in an eye on in the playoffs as you prepare for next season's fantasy drafts.

Jake DeBrusk – The 24-year-old forward had a disappointing regular season, putting up 14 points in 41 games – a 28-point pace in your typical 82-game season. His production has declined over the course of his four seasons in the NHL. He posted a 50-point pace in years one and two before taking a step back with a 44-point pace last year, and now an even bigger step back this year. It's important to consider that DeBrusk only has 244 regular season games under his belt, so it's way too early to write him off completely. Despite his struggles during the 2021 regular season, he's off to an excellent start in the playoffs, scoring a goal in each of Boston's first two playoff games. While a strong showing in the postseason could be a good sign for DeBrusk's development, I'd be careful in letting that influence your perception of his fantasy value. He averaged under 15 minutes of ice time during the regular season and did not see a prominent role on the power play. That limited opportunity isn't subject to change any time soon as he'll always find himself behind the Perfection Line (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak) on the team's depth chart. In addition, with Taylor Hall meshing well with David Krejci and Craig Smith on the second line, the Bruins will probably make an effort to re-sign Hall and Krejci in the offseason, which would likely prevent DeBrusk from seeing an increased role next year. In summary, while a strong showing in the playoffs is a good sign for DeBrusk's development, that probably won't improve his fantasy production next year unless he also sees improvements in ice time and deployment.   

Carey Price – The Canadiens netminder had his regular season hindered by a lower-body injury and concussion, limiting him to just 25 appearances. In those games, Price posted a 12-7-5 record alongside a disappointing .901 save percentage and 2.64 GAA. He fell short of the lofty expectations we had for him after he registered a 1.78 GAA and .936 save percentage through 10 games in the playoff bubble last year. Learning from that experience, if Price does have a strong showing in the 2021 playoffs, we shouldn't overvalue him during next season's fantasy drafts. Of course, that doesn't mean he won't bounce back during the regular season next year, but I think that media coverage of a strong playoff performance can dominate our perception of a player for the following season, causing us to overvalue them in fantasy formats. For example, after his strong play in the bubble, Price was the eighth goalie off the board and a top-50 selection overall in your average Yahoo fantasy league this year. Had it not been for that strong playoff performance, I think we would have been much more rational when evaluating his fantasy value, paying more attention and assigning more weight to Montreal's defensive struggles, as well as Price's relatively underwhelming play in recent years. While we've discussed Price being overvalued based off a strong performance in the 2021 playoffs, he could also be undervalued next year if he struggles in the postseason. If Price falls victim to Toronto's high-powered offense, it's possible that his fantasy value drops lower than it should, making him an undervalued asset that's primed to bounce back after an offseason of rest. 

Teuvo Teravainen – The 26-year-old forward was limited to just 21 appearances during the regular season as he was hindered by COVID-19 and a concussion. He tallied 15 points in those appearances, which translates to 59 points over 82 games – a step back from the 76-point pace he achieved in each of his last two seasons. With the Hurricanes expected to make a long run in the postseason this year, a strong performance from Teravainen should erase any decline in fantasy value caused by his regular season woes.  He's already off to a strong start as he scored a goal in Carolina's playoff opener on Monday.

Ryan Pulock – After scoring at or around a 40-point pace for the past three seasons, Pulock scored at a 25-point pace this year, posting 17 points in 56 games. He's always had a strong shot, which led to roughly 10 goals per season over the past few years. However, Pulock managed only two goals this year, scoring on just 1.7-percent of his shots – well below the 5-to-6-percent success rate he's seen in recent years. We expected more power-play production from Pulock with the departure of Devon Toews presumably opening up more opportunities. Unfortunately, Pulock's role with the man advantage didn't increase significantly and he only registered one point on the power play. In the Isles' 2021 playoff opener, Pulock skated nearly 30 minutes, registering eight hits, a block and an assist. He remains a strong multicategory performer even if he isn't producing offensively, but I think he's someone to watch in the playoffs as I expect him to bounce back from an underwhelming regular season.

Other Players to keep an eye on:

Matt Grzelcyk

Tomas Tatar

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Jason Zucker

Kasperi Kapanen

Ilya Mikheyev

Anthony Mantha