Welcome fantasy managers to another edition of the Eastern Edge. This week we are going to dive into the Ottawa Senators resiliency, two pillars in Buffalo doing all they can to avoid another lost campaign, Carolina's balanced attack as well as The New Jersey Devils making due without Jack Hughes.

The Ottawa Senators were dealt a significant blow to begin the campaign with the unfortunate injury to emotional leader and team captain Brady Tkachuk after only three games. However, this group has demonstrated a resilient identity without their star forward as the Senators have put together a rather impressive 10-4-4 record since Tkachuk’s injury with a number of players stepping up in his absence.

The organization has been getting some great production up and down the lineup with some balanced scoring throughout. Most notable of course would be first line centre Tim Stutzle who has led the charge offensively scoring at a point per game pace (21 PTS in 22 GP) while at the same time offering some solid contributions when it comes to peripheral stats (58 SOG, 39 HITS, 17 BLKS) making him a must own regardless of format. Not to be outdone is winger Drake Batherson who is having a phenomenal start to the year at over a point per game (20 PTS in 19 GP) playing at a 86 point pace, Batherson is making the most of his opportunities while playing only 17:46 TOI a night.

Ottawa is getting some much-needed secondary scoring from the likes of Shane Pinto (16 PTS in 22GP), Dylan Cozens (16 PTS in 22GP), as well as the team’s grizzled vet Claude Giroux (14 PTS in 22GP) which has gone a long way in helping the offensively. The blueline has been quite productive to date also with important contributions from the uber talented Jake Sanderson (15 PTS in 21GP, 39 BLKS), Thomas Chabot (10 PTS in 18 GP) and Artem Zub (10 PTS in 22 GP) with the added bonus of off-season acquisition Jordan Spence putting up eight points in his ten games played.

The Senators goaltending will need to tighten up a little moving forward with Linus Ullmark playing below expectations up to this point. Ullmark is currently sporting an 8-5-4 record accompanied by a rather pedestrian 2.95 goals against and .878 save percentage. The Senators have been giving their netminders plenty of offensive support in the meantime as one of the league’s top ten teams on offense (tenth overall at 3.14 GF/GP) in hopes that Ullmark can find some consistency.

The Buffalo Sabres are having yet another difficult start to the year as the organization sits near the bottom of the Eastern Conference at the league’s quarter point. That being said, team pillars Tage Thompson and team captain Rasmus Dahlin are refusing to let this campaign go quietly into the night with both playing at a very high level.

Thompson is playing just slightly below a point per game pace (21 PTS in 22 GP, 0.95 PTS/GP) with nine points in his last six games. Meanwhile, Dahlin has been exceptional this year posting 16 PTS in 19GP as the defenseman continues to deal with the emotional stress of his wife’s serious heart condition. However, in the five games since returning from his leave of absence (to support his wife), Dahlin has had seven points including three multi-point games. In addition to the two aforementioned players, a third player that deserves to be mentioned in the same vein would be hometown favorite Alex Tuch. The winger is having himself quite a start (20 PTS in 22 GP) while providing immeasurable leadership and experience to the Sabres lineup.

The good news for Sabres fans is that with the current parity in the Eastern Conference they are not out of the playoff picture with only five points separating the first wild card spot and the last place team in the conference (Toronto Maple Leafs).

The Carolina Hurricanes are having another strong start as they currently hold down the number one spot in the East with a relentless approach we have all come to know and love out of a Rod Brind'Amounr coached team. In true Hurricanes fashion, the team leads the NHL in percentage of offensive zone time at 46% as well as defensive zone time at 35.9% tilting both ends of the ice in their favour. The organization continues to employ a balanced attack rolling all four lines with the usual suspect leading the way. Sebastian Aho remains the team’s offensive engine (21 PTS in 22 GP) with youngsters Seth Jarvis (18 PTS in 22 GP) and Jackson Blake (15 PTS in 22 GP) in tow. The club’s back end has dealt with a number of injuries so far this year but when healthy two players in particular have been vital to what the Hurricanes are trying to do. Defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere (14 PTS in 13 GP, 1.08 PTS/GP) as well as off season acquisition K'Andre Miller (10 PTS in 16 GP) aid in Carolina’s transitional play has been invaluable with defensive stalwart Jacob Slavin injured for all but two games this year.

The only concern for me as it relates to the Hurricanes would be their goaltending situation as the team has dressed a total of four different goaltenders this year with varying degrees of success. Pyotr Kochetkov is by far the best of the bunch, albeit in a small sample size, having gone 4-0 to start his season with a 1.70 goals against and .926 save percentage after missing the team’s first 11 games due to injury. Unfortunately with the aforementioned injury to Kochetkov, the club was forced to lean on veteran netminder Frederik Andersen with mixed results as the now 36-year old went a combined 5-5-2 with a bloated 3.07 goals against and .881 save percentage.

Even career minor leaguer goaltender Brandon Bussi has outplayed Andersen to date with a 5-1 record along with respectable 2.67 goals against and .896 save percentage which is why the organization continues to roll with three goaltenders on the active roster. It will certainly be interesting to see how this three headed monster plays out moving forward. A difficult situation for fantasy managers to navigate with no clear cut number one to speak of.

The New Jersey Devils will be an interesting team to keep an eye on over the course of the next couple months with both the injury to skilled forward Jack Hughes as well as ongoing health status as it pertains to the team’s number one netminder Jacob Markstrom. The club has not exactly responded well since the injury to its star forward amassing a 0-3-1 record while lighting the lamp only six times in those four games.

Much of the offense in the wake of the Hughes injury will need to come from winger Jesper Bratt who continues to cement his place amongst the games elite producing at a point per game clip (22 PTS in 22 GP 1.00 PTS /GP). That being said, contributions will also be required from the likes of captain Nico Hischier (18 PTS in 22 GP), Dawson Mercer (17 PTS in 21 GP) and Timo Meier (17 PTS in 22 GP) to help make up for the lost production.

A welcome surprise to the Devils blueline has been the steady play of former second overall pick Simon Nemec who is really starting to come into his own this year having posted some impressive totals (13 PTS in 22 GP). Combine that with Luke Hughes rounding into form after a slow start to his campaign and hopefully that balances out the lack of offense this year from the oft-injured Dougie Hamilton.

In goal, Jake Allen has been nothing short of a godsend as the veteran netminder has fashioned a very respectable 7-4 record accompanied by a 2.46 goals against and .908 save percentage, all while giving the struggling Jacob Markstrom time to find some consistency to his game. Markstrom has not performed well from the word go this year, as the Olympic hopeful is sporting a 6-3-1 record along with an inflated 3.75 goals against and .871 save percentage. He'll need to regain his form if the Devils have any hope of making a deep run this postseason.

That's it for this week folks, keep an eye out for the Weekend Waiver Wire Friday mornings over at the Goalie Post for streaming options as it relates to upcoming games this weekend.

Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on X @mikeouellet9 or BlueSky @mikeouellet9.bsky.social

See you all again next Tuesday!