Welcome back to Eastern Edge. Let’s whip around the Eastern Conference to see who is producing, who is not, which teams are surging, which are sliding, and everything between.

Washington Capitals // 21-7-2 // L7 Days: 2-0-0

Andrew Mangiapane missed Monday night's game against the Dallas Stars with an illness. 

Alex Ovechkin is traveling with the Capitals; he also has been actively taking part in pregame skates – just skating drills and still in a non-contact jersey. We still need that non-contact jersey to become a full-contact jersey before we start talking about a timeline. 

We're a decent chunk into the 2024-25 season, and it's a good time to look at the Washington goalie tandem's split of starts between Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren. The overwhelming narrative going into the season was that Lindgren was going to own the net. After last year's performance by Lindgren, how couldn't that be the case? He singlehandedly carried the Capitals into a playoff spot. The net is split almost down the middle – counting Lindgren's start on Monday night the share is 15 starts each for Thompson and Lindgren. Both goaltenders are holding save percentages above .900, Thompson holding a .913 and Lindgren a .901 save percentage. Both goalies have a goals against average within a fifth of a goal of one another; both goalies are posting a quality start two out of every three games; Thompson holds a 12-1-2 record; Lindgren has a 9-5-0 record. Absolute stellar performances all around from these two and an almost perfect 50/50 tandem.

New Jersey Devils // 20-10-3 // L7 Days: 2-0-1

The Devils reassigned Nico Daws back to Utica about four and a half hours after recalling him. Jake Allen will be traveling with the Devils on their road trip this week to St. Louis and Columbus. Neither of those games are part of a back-to-back so the chances of Allen playing aren't necessarily guaranteed on the trip, but it is reassuring to see him traveling and likely dressing as Jacob Markstrom's backup. 

Toronto Maple Leafs // 19-10-2// L7 Days: 3-1-0

Bobby McMann has returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. He played on a line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. Robertson drew in for Fraser Minten, who was scratched for this game – and Max Domi scored his first goal of the season in his 23rd game of 2024-25. 

Anthony Stolarz has been placed on IR, retroactive to November 12th. He will be eligible to return for Toronto's game against Buffalo on Thursday. Dennis Hildeby was recalled as a result of Stolarz being hurt, and started Sunday's game against Buffalo, helping the Leafs bring home a win. 

Carolina Hurricanes // 19-10-1 // L7 Days: 2-1-0

Eric Robinson was on the top line in Carolina with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis for Sunday's game against the Blue Jackets. The Hurricane's won that game 4-1, and the chances of Rod Brind'Amour keeping the lines the same is never 100%, but it's certainly higher following a win. Anyone who added Jack Roslovic for due to Carolina being the only team with a Friday/Sunday schedule this past week was sorely disappointed that the Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Jack Roslovic line did not stay together after being shut out by the Senators on Friday. Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi seem to be the only constants amongst the forward core in terms of keeping their respective deployments of top line center and second line center. Their linemates constantly rotate like some off kilter gravitational force, but Aho and Kotkaniemi remain steady on their own axis. 

Florida Panthers // 18-11-2 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

The box score healing process continues for Matthew Tkachuk as 15 points in six games has revived his point per game rates to a familiar level. A three-game pointless streak followed that outburst – a three-game span where the Panthers scored only one goal in total. Monday night's game against Edmonton certainly did not disappoint – Tkachuk tallied a power play goal, four shots and a hit in over 20 minutes of ice time. 

Alexander Barkov did not play in Monday's game, nor did he play against Calgary this past weekend. He is out with an illness and Anton Lundell has been skating on the top line in his stead. 

Boston Bruins // 16-13-3 / L7 Days: 1-2-0

Elias Lindholm started the season with two goals in three games. In the 29 games since game three, he's amassed one goal and nine points in total. His poor performance could potentially open up a spot for Oliver Wahlstrom to see some top power play time. 

Wahlstrom was recently claimed by Boston on waivers from the New York Islanders. He played 32 games for the Islanders in 2023-24, lining up at right wing for all 32 games. The Bruins at right wing are: David Pastrnak, Justin Brazeau, Mark Kastelic and Marc McLaughlin. Justin Brazeau seems like the obvious candidate to be bumped down, however he is tied with Elias Lindholm for fourth on the team in total points. If Wahlstrom were to be middle-six and top power play? That could be interesting. If he were to muscle his way inside the top six and get top power play? We could really be cooking. It is worth noting that Boston has been throwing darts at the wall trying to get things to work, darts like Tyler Johnson, Max Jones, Riley Tufte, Georgii Merkulov, and more. Oliver Wahlstrom will be the 20th forward to play for the Bruins so far this year – nothing is guaranteed for Oliver Wahlstrom in terms of development, but we should still keep an eye on him. 

Tampa Bay Lightning // 16-10-2 // L7 Days: 2-1-0

Jake Guentzel is on a six-game, eight-goal streak. He's also added two assists to make it 10 points in six games altogether. He has 31 points in 28 games, so he's well on his way to being a fantastic investment for the Lightning this year. The Lightning are averaging over five goals per game in December at 5.20 per game, more than one full goal per game over the next highest scoring teams – the Penguins and Oilers who are tied for second with 4.17 goals per game. 

Victor Hedman has missed two consecutive games with a lower body injury. Darren Raddysh has been taking over on the top unit as the quarterback of that power play. Hedman was close enough to returning to be a game time decision on Saturday against the Kraken – so Tuesday's game against Columbus should have even better chances of a return.

Ottawa Senators // 15-13-2 // L7 Days: 3-0-0

Linus Ullmark has been nothing short of brilliant lately. He is December's winningest goalie, he has the best save percentage of all goaltenders with over three games played in December (with the help of a shutout), and only Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin and Jake Oettinger have played more games than Ullmark (by a total of one).  

Nick Jensen is an unlikely name to be keeping an eye on, but he's got five points in seven games in December. Third on the team in time on ice, he's an unlikely candidate to continue this kind of offensive production – but unsustainability helps us win weeks in Fantasy. 

Philadelphia Flyers // 14-13-4 // L7 Days: 2-1-0

The Philadelphia Flyers have been creating some uncharacteristic offense lately. Sticking with the December timeframe we used in Ottawa, the Flyers are 6th in the league in goals scored per game with a power play scoring at a 20% clip. 

Matvei Michkov is scoring at a 0.93 points per game rate. In what seems to be a two-horse Calder Trophy race between Michkov and Macklin Celebrini, Michkov finds himself trailing Celebrini's points per game rate by 0.02. For reference: Connor Bedard, last year's Calder Trophy winner, scored at a 0.90 points per game rate. 

New York Rangers // 15-14-1 // L7 Days: 1-3-0

Artemi Panarin is day-to-day with an upper body injury, Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch, Mika Zibanejad played 13:04 time on ice on Sunday (the last time he played so few minutes was December 29th 2014, as an Ottawa Senator), and only Jimmy Vesey and Adam Edstrom played fewer minutes. Something is very wrong in New York right now.

Kakko is only scoreless in the three previous games, perhaps Peter Laviolette is unhappy with only two points in the last nine games. 

Even with such a poor performance the last nine games, Kakko is still:

• 8th on the team in points
• 8th in individual expected goals
• 8th in Corsi for percentage
• 6th in shots for percentage
• 4th in rebounds created
• 2nd in goals for percentage (not counting Chad Ruhwedel's two games played here)
• 3rd in expected goals for percentage amongst NYR forwards
• One of eight forwards with more than three games played above 50% for scoring chances for
• 3rd in high danger chances for percentage
• 1st in offensive zone start percentage, suggesting he's someone Laviolette has given the offensive archetype to. 

It's hard to see where Laviolette gets the idea he's the 13th best forward. Laviolette was quoted saying he wanted "fresh legs" on the second half of a back-to-back. Kakko had skated 13:37 the night prior. 

Pittsburgh Penguins // 13-14-5 // L7 Days: 1-1-1

The Penguins are tied with Edmonton to be the second highest scoring team in December so far, largely thanks to a nine-goal game against the Montreal Canadiens on the 12th of December. Bryan Rust had a hat trick, Rickard Rakell had two goals and two assists, Sidney Crosby had three assists. The only forwards to not record a single point were Philip Tomasino and Evgeni Malkin. 

Tristan Jarry is 5-1-1 in his last seven games, despite an .899 save percentage and allowing 21 goals in that span. 

New York Islanders // 12-13-7 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

Mathew Barzal returned for the New York Islanders on Sunday. He skated on a line with Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, recorded two shots and played well over 20 minutes of ice time. 

The New York Islanders play the fewest (10) games over the next four weeks, they also have the fewest games (1) on a night with a slate of eight or fewer games (often referred to as an Off-Night). Their next Off-Night is on January 5th, and following that game their next off-night won't be until January 24th. From January 25th until the end of the season: NYI will have the fifth-most remaining games played, and have the sixth-most off-nights. 

Adam Pelech returned for the Islanders as well. Anthony Duclair remains on LTIR for now – and Semyon Varlamov has been placed on IR, his last game was on November 29th and has missed eight games in a row.

Columbus Blue Jackets // 12-14-5 // L7 Days: 0-2-2

Columbus has been outscored 25-8 and are 0-5 in the second half of back-to-back games. The Blue Jackets are scoring the 11th most goals per game as a team, but are giving up the third most goals per game. Elvis Merzlikins has an .887 save percentage, and Daniil Tarasov owns an .857 save percentage and a goals allowed average well over four. 

The Blue Jackets could be a goaltender away from a playoff push, but how many teams could say the same thing?

Detroit Red Wings // 12-14-4 // L7 Days: 2-1-0

Patrick Kane is under a half point per game for the first time in his career. Currently at a 0.44 points per game rate (36-point pace), his next lowest points per game total is 0.78 points per game (64-point pace). He's also seeing his lowest time on ice, lowest power play usage, and lowest shots on goal per 60 minutes, and per game. It feels so unnatural, but he may be better suited for the waiver wire than his 46% ownership in Yahoo! implies.

Buffalo Sabres // 11-16-4 // L7 Days: 0-3-1

A loss to the Maple Leafs on Sunday has solidified a 10-game pointless streak for the Buffalo Sabres in which they are 0-7-3. During this 10-game stretch, the Sabres power play is running at under 10% efficiency, they are scoring 2.8 goals per game and giving up 3.8 goals per game. 

Terry Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, met Head Coach Lindy Ruff and the team in Montreal to reassure all of them that their jobs in Buffalo are safe. Pegula gave his vote of confidence to both Head Coach Lindy Ruff and according to Frank Seravalli, he also told players not to expect a "big trade". 

Montreal Canadiens // 11-16-3 // L7 Days: 1-2-0

Patrik Laine has made an impact since returning from injury December 3rd. Three goals and 19 shots on goal is good enough to lead the team during those six games. Laine has been on the ice for one other goal, which he assisted on. 

Lane Hutson scored his first goal of his NHL career against Connor Hellebuyck on Saturday. He's up to eight points in his last nine games played and 19 in 30 games on the season. Currently on pace for more than 50 points, Lane Hutson is the 9th fastest rookie defenseman to 20 points in a season since 1994-95. Of that list detailing the 10 fastest rookie defensemen to 20 points in the last 30 years, seven of them have debuted in the last 10 years. 

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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.