In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll continue looking at skaters who have bounced back from underwhelming starts.

In last week's article (which covered skaters from Boston to New Jersey) we focused on first-half and second-half splits. I decided to be more lenient with the timeframes in this week's edition so that we could include a few more players.

Mathew Barzal

The star center got off to a slow start this year, posting just eight points in 17 appearances through October and November. He's been excellent since the beginning of December, boasting 30 points in his last 30 games. The Isles have a league-leading 26 games left in their schedule and more appearances means more opportunities to put up points. He was recently sidelined for six games, so his value may have dropped slightly due to recency bias and the 'out of sight, out of mind' phenomenon. If your league's trade deadline hasn't passed yet, you may want to reach out to the manager that's rostering Barzal.

Anthony Beauvillier

The 24-year-old forward started struggled mightily during the first three months of the season, tallying just eight points in 24 games. Beauvillier has been much more productive since the new year began, posting 19 points in 29 games. He's been especially hot recently, racking up seven points in his last four appearances. It seems he's earning a reputation for slow starts and strong finishes; he opened last season with six points in 19 games before taking off with 22 points in his final 28 appearances. As I write this, Beauvillier is available in 92% of Yahoo leagues, so this is a good time to get in on the ground floor. His overall numbers are weighed down by a horrendous start to the season, but as we've established, he's in great form right now. Given the Islanders busy schedule down the stretch, Beauvillier will have more opportunities to contribute to your fantasy team than most other waiver wire options.

Noah Dobson

Not enough people are talking about how good Dobson's been this season. He isn't near the top of the blueliner scoring race, but that's mainly because his overall numbers are weighed down by a slow start. He posted just four points through 15 games during October and November, but has 28 points in 39 games since December began. Notably, 12 of those 28 points were tallied with the man advantage as Dobson has established himself as the team's top power-play defenseman, seeing 63% of the Islanders' total power-play time. I've harped on the appeal of New York's busy schedule a couple times already, but that's especially relevant for Dobson because defenders should be easier to incorporate into your fantasy lineup.

Scott Laughton

The Flyers forward hasn't produced much offense since he entered the league in the 2013, so it wasn't really big news when he started this season with just nine points in 29 games between October and December. However, what should be big news is that Laughton has 19 points in 25 games since 2022 began. He's one of the few bright spots on a Flyers team that's struggled mightily this year. Unfortunately, he's out with a concussion right now and there's no telling when he'll be back, but if he's able to return before the season ends, he could provide some under-the-radar value during the fantasy playoffs. Based on his strong play this season, Laughton could be trusted with a bigger role down the stretch if Claude Giroux gets shipped out of Philly before the trade deadline. Laughton is especially valuable in formats that count faceoffs since he's listed as a center/left-wing in Yahoo leagues, allowing him to rack up faceoff wins from the winger slot of your lineup.

Corey Perry

Perry's tenure in Tampa didn't get off to a great start as he posted just one point in his first 16 appearances with the team. The 36-year-old forward has bounced back in a big way since then, racking up 32 points (16 goals) in his last 43 games – a 61-point pace! Now, I'm hesitant to endorse Perry as someone you should roster down the stretch because he sees less than 14 minutes of action a night and plays in the bottom-six, with limited exposure to Tampa's superstars. Regardless, it's hard to ignore what he's done over a sizeable sample this year. If you're in a deeper league and there's a week when Tampa's schedule makes a Lightning forward easy to incorporate into your fantasy roster, Perry could provide a sneaky bit of value.

Alexander Kerfoot

Over the past few weeks, the main storylines out of Toronto have revolved around two things: their goaltending woes and a lethal top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Michael Bunting. With so much coverage devoted to those stories, Kerfoot's recent production has flown under the radar. Although he started slowly with 16 points in 30 games during the 2021 portion of the season, he's been excellent since the new calendar year began. Since January 1^st, Kerfoot has quietly posted 27 points in 29 outings. Bunting has one more point than Kerfoot during this span, yet everyone's been flocking to pick up Bunting in fantasy leagues, while Kerfoot is still available in 85% of formats. Kerfoot may not play with Matthews and Marner, but he spends a lot of time beside John Tavares and William Nylander – who would be first liners on most teams.