Clubs making moves, struggling teams shuffling lines, and young fantasy pieces emerging in interesting spots that warrant our attention – there's no shortage of juicy fantasy hockey storylines to monitor. Get all the latest in this week's edition of Eastern Edge and stay tapped into the top trends out east that could take you over the top.

Kane Destined For Detroit
Steve Yzerman continues to be one of the busiest GMs in the NHL by adding yet another fresh face into the Red Wings dressing room with the signing of Patrick Kane. Kane inks a reported one-deal worth roughly $2.75-million and immediately adds an entirely new wrinkle to Detroit's offensive attack. The real question is: Can Kane return to his pre-injury form and rekindle chemistry with Alex DeBrincat to provide not only legitimate fantasy value, but also impact on the Wings' ability to make some noise in the postseason.

Kane's decision on D-Town is somewhat puzzling when you factor in his age, recent injury history, and previous clear desire to join a team with a real shot at a Stanley Cup.

Detroit currently sits in third in the Atlantic Division with 25 points, but when you also consider the caliber of the other franchises he was reported to be meeting with in the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, and others, one can't help but wonder if Kane's past lethal connection with Wings leading scorer in DeBrincat (12 goals, eight assists, 62 shots) was the major piece to this puzzle.

In terms of Kane's fantasy value, the immediate thought that should pop into any fantasy GM's mind before potentially making a move here is the veteran sniper's hip resurfacing procedure that very few NHLers have recovered from. Of course, Kane is a shoo-in Hall-of-Famer with three rings, a Hart, and Conn Smythe Trophy, but he's also a 35-year-old coming off the worst statistical season of his career with only 57 points, a minus-22 rating, and two-to-one giveaway-takeaway ratio.

With all that said, Kane's hands still looked money in his limited time as a New York Ranger, Detroit already owns a power-play unit clicking at a ninth-best rate in the NHL at 22.4%, and if he gets deployed with DeBrincat and Larkin, which at this point is seemingly a certainty, you're going to have to take a serious look at mixing Kane into your roster. For context, veteran American stickhandling wizard is currently owned at 61% on Yahoo and 52% on ESPN, so he should be out there for the taking.

The other fantasy angle to quickly consider here if you have stock in Detroit's fantasy forward group, specifically David Perron and J.T. Compher, who currently are each on the top power-play, is who will Kane replace in the mix up top for Derek Lalonde's crew? One of those names is surely to be bumped off the top PP unit, meaning their production and minutes will take a hit. Keep that in mind while Detroit shakes up its lineup as Kane settles in.

UPL Salvaging Sabres' Season?

The Buffalo Sabres are winning games again and a lot of it has to do with a promising young goaltender – except his name isn't Devon Levi. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has fans in Sabres-land feeling suddenly optimistic after what has been a relatively negative start for a Buffalo club entering the season with heightened expectations. Even with the rookie netminder struggling to remain consistent in the cage (Levi this season: 3-4-1, 3.73 GAA, .876 SV%) and with major injuries to key pieces like centreman Tage Thompson, the Sabres are still very much alive in terms of owning a shot at a wild-card playoff spot.

You wouldn't have said that even 10 days ago, but thanks to the 6-foot-5 second-round pick in UPL, the Sabres are once again pointed in the right direction. UPL has been absolutely lights out while starting Buffalo's last three games, posting a dazzling .941 SV% and three victories while turning away 80 of 85 shots.

A relatively small sample size to go on in terms of comparing UPL's recent performance to the rest of his career clearly leaves some doubt as to whether there can be a prolonged expectation for the 24-year-old Fin to maintain this pace. But with the Sabres getting balanced scoring and looking comfortable at both ends while getting wins against the likes of the top team in the conference, getting a piece of the action is going to be a really good fantasy hockey angle to pounce on.

Aside from his stellar three-game stretch and the improved play from the Sabres overall, Buffalo's schedule should be considered when assessing UPL's immediate fantasy value. The Sabres play six games over the next 11 days with such favourable opponents as the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and even Detroit Red Wings – all very winnable games that line up nicely for UPL to be a goalie you should be targeting if you need some goalie love.

Leafs Struggles Leads To Line Shuffles

Sheldon Keefe has never shied away from juggling his lines. At practice, ahead of puck drop, or even mid-game, Keefe has proven during his tenure in Toronto that he's not afraid to tinker to get the most out of his players. Enter Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, two obvious elite-level talents who are both not getting it done right now, a trend that is now clearly impacting the Leafs' overall ability to play a complete 60 minutes and register wins on a consistent basis.

Both Matthews and Marner are having effective fantasy hockey seasons (15 points for Marner, 21 for Matthews), but given the increased level of expectations for a duo that's combined for just under 400 points over the last two seasons and change, the Leafs are struggling to score goals and a lot of that has to do with the slumping duo.

These struggles led Keefe to shuffle his lines this week, putting Auston Matthews with Matthew Knies and William Nylander, moving Mitch Marner to the "second line" with John Tavares and Tyler Bertuzzi. Whenever a team with as much top fantasy hockey pieces and elite offensive talent as the Leafs shake up their lineup, fantasy hockey GMs should be spending some time dedication to researching how that could potentially shake out.

Bertuzzi could get a bump from some new lines mates and maybe this will fire up Matthews and Marner to get it going on, but with the margin for error increasingly tight for Toronto, you can really feel the pressure mounting in The Six. Regardless, whenever the top-two lines are mentioned in the news in Toronto we need to examine it with a close fantasy lens to uncover the most possible value. If the new combos start clicking, it might be time to go knocking at some GMs doors now and get yourself some trade chatter going to get a piece of these Leafs on the come up.