The 2023 Dobber Hockey Midseason Guide is now available! It has all the information you need to secure your league championship, including first-half analysis, second-half projections, and prospect coverage to prepare you for the future.

In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll look at the midseason fantasy MVP from each team in the East. When I think about value in fantasy hockey, I think about players who have outperformed expectations. As a result, this article isn't a list of each team's best player or leading scorer. Instead, it includes players whose current contributions outweigh preseason acquisition costs. Without further ado, here’s each team’s fantasy MVP from the first half:

Boston Bruins – Linus Ullmark

The Bruins' netminder finished last season with a solid 26-10-1 record, 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage. Despite the strong showing, his fantasy stock seemed to fall during the offseason and there were a couple of reasons for that. For starters, Boston was missing two key players (Brad Marchand & Charlie McAvoy) to start the 2022-2023 campaign, so some thought they'd struggle out of the gate this year. There was also concern that Jeremey Swayman – who shared the net with Ullmark in years past – would take another step forward this season, pushing Ullmark into more of a backup role. Neither of those fears came true as Ullmark is the league's top netminder at the midseason mark, sporting a 23-2-1 record, 1.92 GAA and .936 save percentage.

Buffalo Sabres – Tage Thompson

Despite breaking out with a 68-point pace last year, Thompson may have been available on your league's waiver wire early this season. He started the 2022-2023 campaign with just three points in his first seven games. Although he currently has both center and right-wing eligibility in Yahoo Leagues, he could only slot in at center earlier on. With the abundance of strong center-only options, swapping Thompson for a more productive player seemed like the right thing to do during his early struggles. Fast forward to present day and Thompson has racked up 58 points over 42 appearances – a 113-point pace. Across the league, he ranks third in goals, sixth in points, sixth in power-play points, and ninth in shots.

Carolina Hurricanes – Martin Necas

Heading into the 2022-2023 campaign, Necas's fantasy value was on life support. The Hurricanes had just acquired Max Pacioretty, and Seth Jarvis was expected to take on a bigger role after a strong rookie season. With those two taking up spots in the top-six, there didn't seem to be enough opportunity left for Necas, so he wasn't a top target in most fantasy formats. However, opportunity presented itself as Pacioretty went down with an injury before the season started and Jarvis struggled out of the gate. Necas was given 19 minutes of action a night and a 61% share of Carolina's power-play time – both career highs. He's taken that opportunity and run with it, tallying 39 points in 44 outings this year, which translates to 73 points over 82 games.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Boone Jenner

Looking through Columbus's roster, it's hard to find many sources of optimism. From my perspective, all of the team's fantast-relevant players are either performing at-or-below preseason expectations. Although Jenner struggled in October, he's tallied 18 points in 22 appearances since the beginning of November, which translates to 67 points over 82 games. Expectations aren't as high for him as they are for Patrik Laine or Johnny Gaudreau, so I thought Jenner's recent production was worth recognizing.

Detroit Red Wings – Filip Hronek

Heading into the season, Hronek wasn't a top target in fantasy drafts. We had a good idea of the player he was, based on his previous four seasons in the NHL. From my perspective, he was a 40-point defenseman who could put up decent numbers in peripheral categories. With the emergence of Moritz Seider last season, Hronek wasn't expected to get enough offensive opportunity to post big numbers this year. Fast forward to present day and Hronek sits second in scoring on his team, and 13^th in scoring among the league's blueliners, racking up 31 points in 42 games – a 61-point pace.

Florida Panthers – Brandon Montour

Each team tends to have one top fantasy defenseman that gets taken early in fantasy drafts. It usually ends up being the blueliner projected to play on the team's top power-play unit. After posting a 77-point pace last year, it looked like Aaron Ekblad would be that guy for Florida this season. When Ekblad went down with an injury in mid-October, Brandon Montour stepped up in a big way, racking up 14 points in 10 games while Ekblad was sidelined. Although that stretch was his most impressive, Montour has been solid throughout the first half, sitting eighth in scoring among defensemen, with 36 points in 43 appearances. Both he and Ekblad have seen prominent roles with the man advantage this year as Florida has been deploying two defenders on their top unit.

Montreal Canadiens – Cole Caufield

Although I'm choosing Caufield as Montreal's midseason MVP, you can make an equally strong case for Nick Suzuki. Ultimately, I went with Caufield because he plays left and right wing in Yahoo leagues. Talent tends to be scarcer at those positions than the center slot where Suzuki plays. In addition, Caufield provides more goals than Suzuki and goals are a rarer commodity than assists. With 36 points in 44 games this year, Caufield is scoring at a 67-point pace. Across the league, he ranks ninth in goals and 19^th in shots. Not bad for a player who was drafted outside the top-100 in fantasy leagues, undervalued due to the current state of the team around him.

New Jersey Devils – Nico Hischier

Although Hischier broke out with a 70-point pace last year, his performance was overshadowed by more emphatic breakouts from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. As a result, Hischier was still on the board during the late rounds of most fantasy drafts this year, sporting an average draft position of 164 in Yahoo Leagues. He's rewarded managers who took a chance on him, maintaining a point-per-game pace through 43 outings this season. Hischier's impact spans over many categories as his shots per game (3.1) and power-play production (0.30 PPP/game) are much higher than they've been in previous years.

New York Islanders – Brock Nelson

Nelson has been underappreciated for some time now. Although he posted a 67-point pace last year, he was drafted outside the top-150 in your average Yahoo league this season. He's greatly outperformed expectations that come with such a late draft position, tallying 39 points in 45 appearances, which translates to 71 points over 82 games. He's seeing a larger share (65%) of New York's power play time than he was last year (53%), which has allowed him to produce more with the man advantage (0.24 PPP/game this year vs. 0.19 PPP/game last year).

New York Rangers – K'Andre Miller

Having produced at a 20-point pace in each of his first two NHL seasons, Miller wasn't a top target in fantasy leagues heading into the 2022-2023 campaign. He wasn't expected to score much, sitting behind Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba in line for offensive opportunity among New York's blueliners. Despite playing minimal minutes on the power play, Miller is scoring at a 46-point pace this season, ranking 10^th in even-strength production among the league's defensemen. The 22-year-old has shattered our offensive expectations while still posting decent numbers in peripheral categories like hits and blocks.

Ottawa Senators – Tim Stützle

Stützle's fantasy stock fell after Ottawa acquired Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux during the offseason. Fantasy managers were concerned that DeBrincat and Giroux would take power-play time away from Stützle. That would have a big impact on the young German's production as 27 of his 58 points last year were scored with the man advantage. Fortunately, Stützle has maintained a prominent role on the power play this year, where he's been even more productive than last season (0.44 PPP/game this season vs. 0.34 PPP/game last season). His current 84-point pace represents a significant step up from last year's 60-point pace.

Philadelphia Flyers – Travis Konecny

Given the state of Philadelphia's roster, fantasy mangers weren't expecting much offense from any of the Flyers this year. As a result, most of the team's skaters were still available during the late rounds of fantasy drafts. Travis Konecny was one of the team's first skaters off the board in Yahoo Leagues and he was taken outside the top-150. Konecny reminded us that you can find great value by targeting good players on bad teams. He has 46 points through 38 games this season, or 1.21 points per game – a rate which ranks 15^th in the league.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Jason Zucker

Zucker's first two full seasons in Pittsburgh were disappointing as he was limited by injuries, pacing for 39 points in year one and 34 points in year two. The 31-year-old forward has rebounded this year, tallying 28 points in 39 outings, which translates to 59 points over 82 games. That's respectable production for a player that was – and still may be – sitting on your league's waiver wire.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Brandon Hagel

Hagel tallied just seven points in 22 games after he was traded to Tampa Bay last season, skating just 14 minutes a night. Based on that underwhelming production, expectations were low for him this year and he went undrafted in many fantasy leagues. Hagel's role with the team has completely changed this season as he's averaging nearly 19 minutes per game. He has 37 points in 42 appearances, which translates to 72 points over 82 outings.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Matt Murray

Based on his injury history and previous years of sustained substandard play, most scoffed when Toronto acquired Murray during the offseason. He's proven the doubters wrong so far, looking surprisingly solid through the first half with a 11-5-2 record, 2.56 GAA and .917 save percentage. I'd say his fantasy value is a product of the team in front of him rather than his individual play, but the same can be said for many fantasy netminders.

Washington Capitals – Erik Gustafsson

The 30-year-old defenseman understandably went undrafted in most fantasy leagues this year. He'd been a 30-point player in recent seasons and that one 60-point campaign with Chicago back in 2018-2019 was looking like more and more like an outlier. John Carlson getting injured has opened a huge opportunity for Gustafsson, who has been much more productive in an increased role. He has nine points in 10 games since Carlson went down and is scoring at a 47-point pace this season. Gustafsson should maintain some fantasy relevance for a little while as Carlson is expected to miss months with a head injury.