Major injury news, contract negotiations (or a lack thereof), line shuffling, roster tinkering, and of course, regular season hockey – we are SO back, baby! Welcome inside the latest iteration of Eastern Edge, a weekly fantasy hockey column that serves up all of the top news permeating the NHL's Eastern Conference that fantasy GMs need to know. With legit hockey action returning in a matter of days and the NHL newsreel already buzzing, it's time to dive back into our weekly look at what's trending out east. 

Swayman's Stalemate, Korpisalo's Crease

For a franchise like the Boston Bruins to have contract negotiations go awry in the public manner currently unfolding between Jeremy Swayman and upper management is somewhat unheard of. Usually keeping things very close to the chest while orchestrating a symphony of sound moves to make a good club better, Boston's front office has been at the root of the organization's success over the past two decades. Let's be explicitly clear: this Swayman situation is going to get worse before it gets better. The first indication of that is the Bruins now having to lean on Joonas Korpisalo, a goaltender who has seriously underperformed over the last 150 games of regular-season action while rocking a .895 save percentage, 3.29 goals-against average, and a 55-64-15 record. That's simply not good enough for a goaltender on any NHL squad let alone the Bruins – a team that was fairly mediocre last season in terms of overall goal output and special teams play that doesn't flaunt much depth at centre.

With that said, however, for now, Korpisalo is the best and only tangible option Boston has. Meaning, he has to be considered for fantasy value as a band-aid solution that could be quite valuable over the first few weeks of the season while the Swayman debacle is being sorted out. It's also been reported over the last 24 hours that Swayman could potentially request a trade elsewhere and then all hell could break loose. Considering how high the young American goaltender has been taken in recent drafts there is likely to be a lot of fantasy hockey GMs out there already feeling sick over drafting Swayman, a top-five option in all formats coming off a season in which he rocked a 25-10-8 record to go along with a 2.53 GAA and .916 SV.%. Boston will be in tough to make it out of the increasingly dangerous Atlantic Division if they have to run out a duo of Korpisalo and someone named Brandon Bussi. The other fantasy angle to consider when it comes to the impact of Swayman's absence is what it will mean for some of Boston's blue liners like Charlie McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov, and even Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins' top-three options on the backend that will all now take a hit in plus-minus and also in overall production with a shaky duo behind them.

Laine, Reinbacher's Knees

First and foremost, as committed fantasy GMs and fanatics of the game we love, we can sometimes get caught up in the hype and hysteria that comes with building a winning roster and get away from the fact that these are real human beings and not pieces to be moved in and out of lineups for personal gain. With that said, we wish nothing but the best to both David Reinbacher and Patrik Laine, but especially the latter as Laine has once again in a very short period of time gone from rising fantasy option with intriguing upside to a player that we are now doubting whether he will ever grace an NHL ice surface ever again.

Reinbacher had surgery early Tuesday and will miss 5-6 months, a tough blow for the former first-round pick who will now have to wait until March, at the earliest, to make his debut on hockey's biggest stage. There wasn't a ton of expectation in terms of Reinbacher's fantasy value this season, but the same cannot be said for Laine, a high-risk high-reward player that was seemingly finding a home on Montreal's second line alongside fellow reclamation projects in Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Now lead bench boss Marty St. Louis will have to get creative with a roster that's not exactly teeming with elite offensive options. All options are likely on the table to fill Laine's hole on the right side and on the second power-play unit, including splitting up his top trio of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky. Until something more concrete is decided, be wary of how you approach and deploy any fantasy assets in the bleu, blanc, et rouge. It could be another really long season in La Belle Province if St. Louis can't push the right buttons and someone steps up for a Habs group still searching for its identity.