We're officially at the one-quarter mark through the season. Only a few days away from American Thanksgiving, the point of the season that some believe to be the true measuring stick of whether a team is a playoff team or not. The Devils take the top spot in the Eastern Conference this week – almost gifted to them by three games in hand, Carolina maintains the top spot by points percentage. 

New Jersey Devils // 14-7-2 // L7 Days: 2-0-0

Following shoulder surgery last season, Jack Hughes is shooting 29.5% less than last year on a per game basis. 2023-24's 4.4 shots on goal per game (SOG/GP) has turned into 3.1 SOG/GP here in 2024-25. He's kept his points pace from falling in tandem by supplementing his box score with assists – he's on pace for only 13.2% fewer points than last year's 98-point pace. 

Stefan Noesen might be the real deal: over two hits a game, almost two shots a game, and rolling at 0.79 points per game. He's quickly accumulating power play shares and even strength deployment – there are shades of 2019-20's NJD Blake Coleman in there somewhere, even if it is only a diet version. 

Carolina Hurricanes // 14-5-1 // L7 Days: 1-1-1

The Carolina Hurricanes are running a goaltending tandem of Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets. Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol following a hit to the head from teammate Sean Walker. There has yet to be a timeline released on Kochetkov. 

Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour was up to his usual line blending antics tonight, and it seems to be working. The first line started out as Andrei Svechnikov with Sebastian Aho and Jack Roslovic, then Seth Jarvis replaced Svechnikov, then Jackson Blake replaced Roslovic. Seth Jarvis collected two assists and a short-handed goal. 

Martin Necas is now tied for the league lead in points. Unreal. 

Toronto Maple Leafs // 13-6-2 // L7 Days: 2-0-0

Auston Matthews could be making his long-awaited return this Wednesday. He's missed eight games so far – Mitch Marner has seven multi-point games in that span. 

Bobby McMann has been exploiting every second of extra ice this season. McMann has 20 shots on goal in his last four games. 

Fraser Minten got some top power play time – that could be very short lived if Matthews returns on Wednesday. 

Alex Nylander signed a one year, $775,000 contract this past week. Alex and brother William played their first NHL game together on Sunday. 

John Tavares is pacing for a point per game through 20 games this season. 

Washington Capitals // 13-6-1 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

Alex Ovechkin has been sidelined since November 18th; Dylan Strome has one point in the three games since then. At the time of Ovechkin's injury, more than half of Strome's 22 assists were on OV goals and more than half of those OV assists were secondary assists. 

Connor McMichael has but one point in his last five games, counting this as the first time he is coming up in Eastern Edge on a cold streak. 

Ivan Miroshnichenko has a goal on his only shot through his first two games this season. 

The Washington Capitals have lost consecutive games for the first time this season against the Devils and Avalanche. They bounced back against Florida Monday night, who is on a four-game losing skid. 

New York Rangers // 12-6-1 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

Chris Kreider is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Alexis Lafreniere took his spot on the top power play unit and at even strength. Mika Zibanejad is with Will Cuylle and Brett Berard – not exactly on an island considering Will Cuylle is not only on pace for almost 350 hits, but he's got nine goals and eight assists through 20 games – good for a 70-point pace. 

Florida Panthers // 12-8-1 // L7 Days: 0-3-0

The Florida Panthers are in the midst of a four-game losing streak. They're also the top team in the league with a negative goal differential. 

The panic is evidenced in the line combinations and power play units: Aaron Ekblad is finally getting time quarterbacking the top power play, Sam Bennett usurped Carter Verhaeghe on the top unit as well. Verhaeghe has been relegated to the third line at times he sorts out his down year. 

Carter Verhaeghe's entire career shows a 1:1 ratio of goals to assists – this year it's 1:2 goals to assists, and his shooting percentage is less than half what it was last year and 54% his previous three-year average. Had he been getting 'typical' puck luck in the goal scoring department. One could assume he'd have 10 goals to go with his 10 assists, and bring his totals up to 20 points in 22 games – which would extrapolate to a 75-point pace – much more characteristic of his last couple years. Beating that bad luck will be an uphill battle from the bottom six and second power play unit. 

Sam Reinhart's 13-game point streak came to an end against the Washington Capitals Monday night.

Buffalo Sabres // 11-9-1 // L7 Days: 3-0-0

Alex Tuch is thriving, Dahlin has regained his form, and the power play has been finding success.

Alex Tuch is managing a point per game – a six game, nine-point streak has seen to that. He's even tied with Sam Reinhart for the league lead in shorthanded goals. 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had a heavy hand in Buffalo's undefeated week, two starts, two wins, and a shutout. He's won five of his last six games and eight of his last eleven. 

Boston Bruins // 10-9-3 / L7 Days: 2-1-1

In a surprising but not-so-surprising move, the Boston Bruins relieved Jim Montgomery of his duties as head coach. Joe Sacco has been named interim head coach, and Joonas Korpisalo delivered a shutout in his debut as bench boss. 

Sacco hasn't done much to the line combinations, but whether he can take credit for Elias Lindholm's first goal in 18 games remains to be seen. Boston harbors a decent percentage of reclamation projects that Fantasy Managers will be watching closely. We're all rooting for you Joe. 

Tampa Bay Lightning // 10-7-2 // L7 Days: 1-1-1

At 36% rostered in Yahoo!, Anthony Cirelli is on pace for 90 points. That's it. That's the update. 

Well, I guess it would be a disservice not to mention that he is also shooting almost 24%. Brandon Hagel's nine points in three games is pretty good, and I guess he deserves a shout out too. 

New York Islanders // 8-8-5 // L7 Days: 1-1-1

Noah Dobson is having an absolutely brutal year for someone drafted inside the top-10 defenseman. He's less than half point per game, sporting a 34-point pace. Only one goal a quarter the way through the season is a bad look for someone who's been a double-digit goal scorer each of the last three years. The Islanders are 27th in goals scored per game, and Dobson is seeing the lowest on-ice goals per sixty minutes rate of his career – both at five on five, and on the power play. Dobson's expected goals per 60 is the highest it's ever been, signaling some extremely bad luck – evidenced by the lowest on ice shooting percentage he's ever seen. A bounce back would be easy to cheer for, but offense hasn't been the Islanders' style for quite some time. 

Since 2021-22, every team in the NHL that scores more than three goals per game on average has a winning points percentage. The only team with a winning points percentage under three goals per game is the New York Islanders and unfortunately "if it ain't broke don't fix it" seems to apply here. 

Columbus Blue Jackets // 9-9-2 // L7 Days: 3-0-0

What an absolute scorching week from the Columbus Blue Jackets! With 5.33 goals per game, they put up seven against the Lightning, five against Boston, and five against Carolina. 

Werenski gets the NHL's first star of the week. Two goals, five assists and a plus-6 rating in three games played. The last time a Columbus Blue Jacket was named first star of the week was Cam Atkinson in February of 2021.

Kent Johnson seems to have been shot out of a cannon since returning from injury, as a father of two that cheeky pun is very much intended. Johnson has yet to play a game he hasn't scored in – nine points in six games played, shooting almost 40% and racking up four power play points all the while. 

Philadelphia Flyers // 9-10-2 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

Owen Tippett seems to be a bit of a pain point for fantasy managers this year. Perhaps the expectations were too high in hindsight, but a half point per game is not what anyone was expecting from someone drafted inside the top 80 by way of average draft position. Can we blame John Torterella? Yes, probably on some level. Torts is giving Tippett more time on ice both at even strength and on the power play than he got last year, so that might put a wrench in that scapegoat. Truth is, he's shooting less and scoring on a smaller percentage of those deteriorating shot totals. He's always been a quantity over quality shooter, with a career high shooting percentage under 12%. There is still time for a bounce back, but the likelihood is that the bounce back will not be to the inflated expectations of preseason, and instead a bounce back to the 50-point seasons he's been putting up since coming to Philadelphia. 

Cam York has returned to the Flyers, but Emil Andrae is still quarterbacking the top power play. Andrae only has one power play point to show for it, and as is the custom with John Torterella: Emil has seen <50% of the power play time in three of his last four games played via Frozen Tools. 

Detroit Red Wings // 8-10-2 // L7 Days: 1-1-1

Is there value at defense here outside of Moritz Seider?

Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond are quite the duo this year – both of whom are above a 70-point pace. Exactly half of Raymond's points this year are power play points, putting him en route to close to 40 power play points. Vladimir Tarasenko is currently riding sidecar to these two at even strength. Raymond has goals in three straight, and Larkin got his 12th of the year Monday night against the Islanders. 

Patrick Kane is day-to-day currently, dealing with something in the upper body. He had taken a maintenance day on Sunday, and was hopeful for today's game but couldn't swing it. If he was a game time decision today, he'll likely be in for the next game. 

Pittsburgh Penguins // 7-12-4 // L7 Days: 0-2-1

The Penguins acquired Philip Tomasino from the Nashville Predators for a 2027 fourth round pick. The Predators have now traded or waived every first round pick they have made since 2013. Tomasino profiles as a playmaker with some goal scoring prowess. Never truly given an extended chance to strut his stuff in Nashville, he will join Rutger McGroarty as a candidate for the coveted left-wing spot next to Sidney Crosby. 

Congratulations to Sidney Crosby, who scored his 600th goal this past week. 

Ottawa Senators // 8-11-1 // L7 Days: 0-3-0

Artem Zub will be out "for a while". It's his second injury of note for the year with his last injury seeing him sidelined from October 17th to November 5th. As Jake Sanderson's most common defensive partner, it's a good time to look and see how his absence might affect his production:

• Jake Sanderson without Zub from 10/17-11/5: five points in nine games, a respectable 46-point pace. 
• Jake Sanderson with Zub: seven points in eight games, a 72-point pace. 

Small sample sizes both, but a definite chemistry to be seen. 

Ottawa is the "best bad team". They have the best goal differential of any team under a .500 win percentage at (-2). They are ranked 26^th in the league by points percentage, and 15th in goals per game with the 5th best power play. Linus Ullmark has been struggling in almost every game this season. 

Montreal Canadiens // 7-11-2 // L7 Days: 1-1-0

Patrik Laine was seen sporting a regular jersey at practice today. He has not been cleared to play yet, and head coach Martin St. Louis has said that next week is the targeted return for Laine. He was practicing with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the top line. 

Juraj Slafkovsky is smack dab in the middle of the coldest of cold streaks – nothing in his last four games, a three-assist game and then two points in the six beyond that. Eight of his last eleven he's been held off the scoresheet. He's due to break the pattern soon. 

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That's our Eastern Edge Eastern Conference update for the week. Thank you for reading, as always feel free to chirp me in the comments below, in the Fantasy Hockey Discord  or you can reach out on X – @FHFHockey. In the meantime, you can catch updates from me on the Five Hole Fantasy Hockey Podcast.