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

With the summer lull of news and fantasy-related action nearing its end, our weekly look into fantasy happenings out east will once again focus on all of the trending topics that could be affecting GMs and their ability to put together a winning lineup. Injuries, contract updates, trades, line shuffling – if it has fantasy fallout, we're breaking it all down to ensure anyone delving into the realm of fantasy hockey has a leg-up on their competition, regardless of the depth or format of the league. Let's tap in.

Jarvis Inks Long-Term Pact + Svechnikov's Top-Line Look

It's been a pretty messy offseason for the Carolina Hurricanes up till this point, but things are starting to look a bit more organized as the puck drop for the 2024-25 NHL and fantasy seasons draws increasingly near. Missing out in the Jake Guentzel sweepstakes, losing some key pieces on the back end, a shakeup in the front office, drawn out contract talks with Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis, there's been a lot of noise coming out of this franchise and none of it really that positive. However, now with Necas and Jarvis sorted, the Canes can shift focus back to the ice where they've been a postseason team for six consecutive years under the keen eye of one of the best coaches in the league in Rod Brind'Amour.

Jarvis is a cornerstone piece of the Carolina organization and locking him up for eight years at a very reasonable annual cap hit of about $7.5 million is a big win for newly-minted GM Eric Tulsky. It also cements Jarvis as an elite option who has excellent chemistry with fellow top-liner and fantasy stud Sebastian Aho.

However, it's the third potential member of that trio that could offer sneaky-good fantasy value in Andrei Svechnikov. With Guentzel gone, Svechnikov is going to get a really good look to settle in on the left side with Aho and Jarvis for Brind'Amour's number one line, but he should also see major minutes on the first power-play unit, too. If Svechnikov can remain healthy, something he's had difficulty with the past three seasons, he's more than capable of registering 60-plus points while also bringing peripheral banger-league category coverage with penalty minutes and hits. Given the recent injury history, the 24-year-old Russian has all the makings of a sleeper pick who could pop off if he sticks with Carolina's two most dangerous offensive pieces with Jarvis and Aho.

Marchand's Multiple Surgeries, Bruins Playing Hardball With Swayman?

Brad Marchand was pretty banged up to end last season, as the Little Ball of Hate told the media earlier this week that he had three separate offseason surgeries to help get his body ready for the rigors of an 82-game NHL slate. Marchand, who is coming off another productive fantasy campaign of 67 points, 78 penalty minutes, 207 shots on net, and 115 hits, had a procedure to repair a torn tendon in his elbow along with two sports hernia surgeries during the summer, but he indicates he will be 100 percent ready to go once the Bruins open their full training camp on September 18th. If he's indeed healthy and ready to go for opening night in October, Marchand is a fairly reliable option to be targeting in the middle rounds of most drafts.

More importantly, and nervously, for Bruins fans and fantasy hockey GMs is the contract status of number one netminder Jeremy Swayman. According to reports earlier in the summer, Swayman and his representation are looking for $10-million per season with most-recent rumblings pointing to that number now being closer to eight with the Bruins looking for something more in line with a six-million-dollar AAV. That's clearly a sizable gap with less than two weeks until camp and the Bruins are obviously already in a tough spot having shipped out Linus Ullmark, handing the blue paint to Swayman earlier in the summer. Considering how good the 25-year-old Alaska native has been since entering the NHL four seasons ago, rocking a 79-33-15 record to go along with a .919 save percentage, 2.34 goals-against average, and 12 shutouts over that span, Boston would be wise to pay the man his money and sort out any cap issues after. The leverage all lies with Swayman, which is likely why whispers of a potential bridge deal could make the most sense in order to get the Bruins' number one man back on the ice with his teammates and ready for regular-season rubber. Some recent fantasy projections have Swayman being as high as the second goaltender off fantasy draft boards, which feels a little rich considering he's never had to log a full season of 50-plus starts and be the number one, but he should still be targeted as a top-five option with elite fantasy value in the cage.