Welcome back, you're tapped into the latest edition of Eastern Edge, a weekly fantasy hockey column here at Dobber Hockey analyzing all of the happenings in the Eastern Conference that is impacting your ability to build a winning fantasy hockey squad.

Bit of a mixed bag of news in our latest iteration: a big extension, a weird trade involving two top prospects and a bunch of off-ice hullabaloo, and an ice-cold fantasy forward finding his footing on a really good line in Pittsburgh.

Let's get this paper.

Flyers Floundering + Making Moves

A red-hot start that saw this Flyers group ascend the Metro standings has turned into a bit of a rough ride for John Tortorella's crew over the past month – both on and off the ice. We'll get to the off-ice distractions in a minute, but considering Philadelphia has struggled to post only three wins since December 19th, fantasy GMs invested in Flyers pieces need to take note of this dip in performance. With that said, Philly still deserves some love as one of the tougher teams to play against (second-best penalty kill at 86% efficiency/allowing 7th-least shots-against per game at 29) with a lot of good young pieces that still currently sits tied for third in the Metro Division.

However, in terms of fantasy, Philadelphia's recent plight has seen value dip in early fantasy risers such as goaltender Carter Hart, defenseman Travis Sanheim, and even forward Owen Tippett – meaning it might be time to consider packaging some of these pieces with another player to get some return before their value completely bottoms out. It is easier said than done, but given the aforementioned stinginess and overall quality of the Flyers, don't be completely surprised if they turn it around a bit as we push deeper toward the trade deadline.

Speaking of which, front-office savant Danny Briere isn't wasting any time waiting for March 8th, as the Flyers dealt 2022 fifth-overall draft choice Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks for the slow-developing 2020 sixth-overall pick Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round selection on Monday afternoon.

A lifelong Pittsburgh Penguins fan, Gauthier reportedly turned coat following a draft process where he was adamant about wanting to be a Flyer long term. Fast-forward to yesterday and Gauthier was sent packing to a Ducks franchise loaded with young forward talent that includes Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras. No telling whether Gauthier gets a real look this season in the show, but he's a player to monitor closely – especially on the keeper/dynasty side of things.

As for Drysdale, considering his inability to stay healthy and overall disappointment in terms of translating his game into NHL success, don't rush out and add this guy just yet. Playing under Torts can have polarizing effects on young players, and at only 21 years old, give Drysdale some time to adjust to his new team and coach before assessing him as a potential week-to-week option on the backend. On the Ducks side of things, Russian rookie Pavel Mintyukov is sure to see an uptick in minutes and value. Mintyukov currently sits tied for sixth in rookie scoring with 18 points so far this season and is owned at 12% on ESPN and 22% on Yahoo. He's worth a serious look over the coming days.

Willy Styles Secures Bag

The seemingly seven-month contract negotiation has finally come to a close. A previously reported gap in William Nylander's salary request compared to what the Toronto Maple Leafs were willing to offer was rectified over recent weeks, with the rising fantasy hockey star inking an eight-year extension Monday morning that carries an $11.5-million AAV.

Say what you will about the Maple Leafs and the $51 million they have tied up in John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and Nylander, Willy Styles is currently tied for fifth in NHL scoring with Connor McDavid and is having a truly stepping-out-type season on pace for 120 points.

Toronto has nearly 61 percent of its salary cap tied up into those five pieces, so building out the rest of a winning roster with the minuscule amount of cap space they have is clearly going to make things interesting for Brad Treliving, but this was the move the Leafs needed to make to lock up its core. Aside from Nylander's obvious elite-level offensive talent (95 goals, 126 assists, 226 points in last 200 games), the Swedish sniper has quietly rounded out his on-ice approach while committing to playing a complete 200-foot game, making him an even more confident player which has translated into major offensive output.

Even if Nylander continues close to this current pace and ends up with 100 points to round out the year, he's going to start garnering serious consideration as a late first-round fantasy draft option heading into the 2024 NHL fantasy hockey draft season.

Rickard Rakell Rising

Aside from the key factor that Rakell is once again cooking up chemistry alongside fellow top-line mates in Jake Guentzel in a contract year and Sidney Crosby playing Hart Trophy-level hockey, Rakell is actually performing – making him fantasy relevant once again.

There's no denying the heinous showing that was Rakell's first 18 games, as the 30-year-old winger registered an embarrassingly bad four assists. However, the past nine contests? Rakell has turned it around in a very big way while putting up five goals, five assists, three power-play points, and nearly 30 shots, all while seeing his ice time increase significantly to nearly 20 minutes a night.

The ice time uptick, his deployment on the top line and number one power-play unit, and current hot streak all make Rakell the perfect week-to-week add in your forward lineup for a little offensive fantasy hockey bump. He's currently out there, too, as he's only owned at 43% on Yahoo and 49% on ESPN.