Welcome inside the latest edition of Eastern Edge, a weekly fantasy hockey column at Dobber Hockey analyzing the top trending fantasy news impacting your fantasy hockey squad on a week-to-week basis.

Just like last week's iteration, we’re switching things up a little bit in this week’s look into the top fantasy hockey news in the Eastern Conference by dropping one tasty nugget of trending or trade-related news for each team in the Metro Division – last Tuesday we covered the Atlantic.

Historically, the next handful of days are some of the most intense of any during the entire NHL season, as even minor trades in the ahead of the deadline can result in meaningful impacts on your fantasy squad. Players changing lineups and cities can mean good and bad things for fantasy pieces once surging or perhaps, now struggling. Don't miss out on a single bit of fantasy-relevant news over the next few days, starting with all of the latest going down in the Metro.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Well, at least the Alex Nylander experiment is working … for now.

Not much to say about the Columbus Blue Jackets in terms of the impending trade deadline aside from what has already been said and mostly shot down: Elvis Merklikins might tickle the fancy of an NHL club in search of a backup or some insurance, but that angle has seemingly been dead for weeks. The other major piece of potential trade news out of Cannon Country surrounded captain Boone Jenner. However, general manager John Davidson shot down those rumours in a very direct way almost a month ago.

Don't expect much from a Jackets team looking for some semblance of an identity, one in complete rebuild mode for the foreseeable future. As for Nylander, fresh scenery and new linemates has him putting up points to the tune of four goals and two assists in his last three games. Consider him a night-to-night flier at best but don't expect this output to last.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Oh boy, things are going from bad to worse in Pittsburgh, as the Penguins season continues to slip away. The Pens have looked lost over the last two weeks while putting up a 4-5-1 record and losing three straight at the most critical stretch of the NHL schedule. From a fantasy hockey perspective, aside from Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and perhaps one or two others, this Pittsburgh team has been a huge disappointment from the jump.

Inconsistent play from peripheral pieces in Reilly Smith, Rickard Rakell, and even Bryan Rust  have the Penguins set to be sellers at the trade deadline, likely moving their biggest piece in Guentzel to a west coast team looking for a prolonged postseason push. Moving on from Guentzel would set the table for this team to restructure on the fly, as general manager Kyle Dubas is sure to net a solid return should he pull the trigger on a deal for the shifty American sniper.

Expect the floodgates to open and Dubas to be a very busy man over the next three days. What does that mean for the future and fantasy value of the likes of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Tristan Jarry and Erik Karlsson? Only time will tell.

New Jersey Devils

Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the entire season, the New Jersey Devils have been falling short on expectations from the opening puck drop on the 2023-24 campaign – expectations that had this team among the some of the best in the NHL as a preseason Stanley Cup threat. Major injuries to key pieces at multiple points of the year, inconsistent special teams play, and no starting goalie in sight has the Devils circling the drain ahead of the deadline.

The current drain scenario just cost Lindy Ruff his head coaching job, as Ruff was fired Monday night and replaced by former Vancouver Canucks bench boss and longtime NHLer Travis Green. The firing alone won't pull New Jersey out of its current predicament of closing an eight-point gap on the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings, the two teams who hold down the Eastern Conference wild-card spots, but the fact remains they very much need a goaltender – now and for the future.

We're all likely quite aware by now New Jersey has been going hard after Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom. If they somehow manage to pull that off, start picking up wins, punch a postseason ticket, get out of the first round, and then maybe get Dougie Hamilton back for the second round, MAYBE they can go on a run. That's a lot of ifs and maybes. It just really doesn't feel like it's in the cards for the Devs this season.

However, this team has a stellar young core and will be a force to be reckoned with in the Metro sooner-than-later – especially if they finally land a legitimate number-1 netminder.

Washington Capitals

Hard to say what's in the cards for the Caps in terms of trade deadline moves, aside from reportedly looking to move recently waived forward Evgeni Kuznetsov. Nothing super fantasy-relevant in the works right now in Washington, but with ugly losses to the Red Wings and Arizona Coyotes of late, we can't help but feel the Capitals might stand firm with what they have and hope for the best.

The Caps are only one point up on the Devils and have three games in-hand on the Lightning, so it's hard to envision Washington GM Brian MacLellan being very busy given the overall makeup of this roster and aging superstar in Alex Ovechkin who is currently having his worst offensive season of his illustrious career.

New York Islanders

The immediate bump of energy that hiring Patrick Roy brought to the Islanders over his first couple weeks behind the bench on Long Island was seemingly about to fizzle out, but the Islanders have won three in a row and are knocking on the door for a wild-card spot once again. Given the franchise is run by longtime front-office savant and trade deadline ninja Lou Lamoriello, it comes as little to no surprise that trade news out of New York's secondary hockey market is few and far between.

It has to be noted the Islanders are only two points up on the Devils and one on the Caps, so it's really hard to predict who has the best chance at getting in while all three are still very much neck-and-neck. Meaning, even one more good or bad performance before the deadline could be the tipping factor in whether these three Metro foes will be active or not. As usual, the Islanders are very much in need of some secondary scoring, as New York is once again in the bottom-third of overall scoring.

Philadelphia Flyers

If you're the Philadelphia Flyers brass, are you really that comfortable making moves to bolster this lineup when you have Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandstrom as your tandem? In a short period of time at the helm for this Philadelphia franchise, Danny Briere is already proving he's the man for the job in the City of Brotherly Love and we expect him to not put any of this team's bright future in jeopardy for bringing in any kind of rental or short-term piece. Philly also has only four regulation wins in its last 10 and is likely going to have to go through teams like the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins or even Florida Panthers should they crack the first round.

Expect the next couple of days to be fairly quiet for the Flyers in terms of major moves, other than involving the names you've heard all year in Nick Seeler and Sean Walker.

Carolina Hurricanes

The same can't be said for the Hurricanes, who are a team very much built for a Cup run.

One of the stingiest blue lines in the game has Carolina once again in the mix as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference – but a few obvious needs must be addressed before anyone is ready to believe the Canes can cure their postseason shortcomings. One, goaltending has been a hot topic in Raleigh all season long, actually starting when number-1 option Frederik Andersen went down with blood-clotting issues. Injuries and poor play from both backups in Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov seemingly have the Hurricanes ready to pull the trigger on some kind of move to bring in some insurance in the blue paint.

If that happens, be wary of how you're deploying either Raanta or Kochetkov should they still be getting regular looks down the stretch.

New York Rangers

This Rangers franchise has never been shy about making big splashes at the deadline to try and take an already Cup-caliber lineup over the top. Last season's addition didn't exactly result in the hardware they were looking for, but Patrick Kane's offensive production and impact on the Rangers' ability to score last postseason can't be ignored and will likely have New York's front office working the phones to shore up what is already a beast-mode blue-line and potent forward group.

Factor in that Igor Sheskterkin has been absolutely sensational over the past nine games while posting a 7-1-1 record and .943 save percentage, and it won't come as any surprise if Chris Drury has more than enough confidence in this team to invest in another deadline day bump in overall talent to make this team even deeper.