Who doesn't love a good sleeper? It's that time of the year, hockey heads, the portion of the summer where we get way too serious about fantasy hockey and dive deep into draft preparation to find some diamonds in the rough that other GMs might be sleeping on. Combine that with the return of the NFL season in a matter of days and spouses across the country might as well kiss their loved ones goodbye as sports degenerates get lost in what is sure to be an exciting few weeks.

In terms of our latest edition of Eastern Edge, we're serving up some of our favourite sleeper candidates from the Atlantic Division while tackling the Metropolitan in next week's edition. These are players who might not be getting a ton of pre-draft love that find themselves in advantageous situations who could be the perfect pieces to round out rosters with. The numbers might not jump off the page, but the base of production and upside is there, making all of these targets worthy fantasy hockey options.

Bobby McMann, Toronto Maple Leafs

McMann is the prototypical sleeper: a 28-year-old undrafted late-bloomer, the former Colgate University captain proved in his brief NHL stint last season that he can be a fantasy contributor at the game's highest level by registering 24 points, 117 hits, and 52 penalty minutes in only 11 minutes of ice time per night. McMann has the compete level to be a top-six forward for the Maple Leafs and is likely to get a really good opportunity to cement himself on John Tavares' wing on the second line of Toronto's attack along with superstar-in-the-making William Nylander.

Say what you will about this Leafs group, the team will once again be one of the best offensive clubs in the game with a deadly power play. If that trio forms chemistry out of training camp and sticks for Craig Berube during the opening stages of the 2024-25 campaign, McMann becomes an even more attractive option with 50-point potential who can provide categorical fantasy value. If he earns his new head coach's trust and also cracks some power-play time on the second unit, McMann could become a draft steal in deeper formats.

Morgan Geekie, Boston Bruins

At six-foot-three, two-hundred-plus pounds and gifted with the offensive skill set that most power forwards possess, Geekie is a player who put up sensational numbers at every level he's played before entering the NHL as a regular for the Seattle Kraken during the 2021-22 campaign but hasn't yet done so on the game's biggest stage. At only 26 years old, this could be the season in which Geekie makes his mark. Playing on Boston's second line with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle is also seemingly the perfect deployment for a player who can set the tone physically while also bringing offensive upside, but it's far from a lock that he remains on that line and gets the minutes to be a legitimate fantasy hockey contributor. However, with the Bruins' relatively shallow pool of options up front and Geekie's potential, don't be surprised if he settles in with the top-six group while even getting a potential look on the second unit on the man advantage.

Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers

Bill Zito deserves a lot of credit as one of the most astute hockey minds in the game today, and his recent success backs that up, as Zito has done an amazing job of piecing together the Panthers roster with a mix of homegrown talent and acquired studs. Lundell is one of his in-house options that Zito has been grooming – with the assistance of Paul Maurice – that could really establish himself as a legitimate fantasy hockey target this year with the caliber and versatility to impact the game at both ends of the rink. A former 12th overall pick from the 2020 NHL Draft who also played two years as a pro in the Finnish elite league (Liiga), Lundell enters the 2024-25 campaign with more experience than most 22-year-olds. If he can improve on his 35 points from last season and steal some minutes away from Sam Bennett while creeping into the second-line centre role, Lundell's fantasy hockey value will skyrocket. No disrespect to Bennett who fills out banger-league categories like a beast, but that second-line spot has Lundell's name written all over it. 

Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators

With the energy seemingly shifted and off-ice distractions of last year behind both Pinto and the Senators organization as a whole, it's shaping up to be a big year for the 23-year-old American scorer. After returning from his 41-game suspension for violating NHL gambling policies, Pinto was arguably Ottawa's best forward, putting up 9 goals, 18 assists, and 110 shots while also chipping in with 39 hits, 31 blocked shots, and winning over 50% of his draws. Pinto starts this upcoming season behind Josh Norris for the second-line centre role, but given Norris' recent track record of injuries and inability to consistently contribute, it will come as little surprise if Pinto becomes Ottawa's second man up the middle. A 30-goal season is very much in the realm of possibility for this player; take a shot on him in the final few rounds of the draft.