The injury bug is already getting frisky, contracts are being signed, and young players on the rise are getting their first chance on the NHL stage after cracking lineups out of training camp – hockey is all the way back. Unless the weather continues to have an impact, tonight's NHL board features three juicy matchups, indicating the fantasy season is about to be fully underway.

It's time to get serious. No more projecting, previewing, or predicting. Fantasy GMs of all experience levels need to maintain a fixated gaze on the happenings of this league on a daily basis to ensure a leg-up on the competition. Knowing who is hurt, what pieces are playing where, and how teams are doing is a critical angle to regularly cover. Have no fear, our Eastern Edge fantasy hockey column will be here each and every Tuesday afternoon to break down all of the top trending fantasy news coming out of the Eastern Conference that could be impacting GMs' ability to build a winning lineup.

Here's what you need to know this week.

McGroarty Earns NHL Look, Beauvillier Gets a Shot With Sid 

It's been a pretty solid six weeks for Rutger McGroarty. First, he gets his wish by being traded out of Winnipeg into a market closer to his American heart, then he cracks the Penguins lineup for opening night on a Pittsburgh squad that could use some help up on the wings in a very big way. Given his first-round caliber, large frame, and excellent on-ice vision, McGroarty should be a fantasy piece to closely monitor for sneaky offensive upside. He could be a valuable peripheral piece should he form some chemistry in the Penguins' lineup. Even more so should he impress head coach Mike Sullivan and slide further up the lineup to catch some time with Evgeni Malkin or, ideally, Sidney Crosby.

Speaking of Sid, his ideal wingman Bryan Rust is out right now dealing with a day-to-day ailment, leaving another hole in the top-six to be filled. Next man up is Anthony Beauvillier who will once again get a shot at proving why he was a late first-round draft pick back in the 2015 NHL Draft. Never really coming anywhere close to living up to the hype, Beauvillier has bounced around the past two seasons from the New York Islanders to Vancouver Canucks to Chicago and then Nashville while struggling to find his game and consistency in the offensive end. If anyone can turn that around it's 87, making Beauvillier an ideal waiver-wire target over the coming days until a more finite return date for Rust is determined. There is still no telling how the Pens will fare overall this season, but anyone anywhere close to Sid or Evgeni Malkin needs to be considered for week-to-week offensive fantasy value. 

Maple Leafs Rolling the Dice With Pacioretty

A relatively inexperienced, injury-prone number one netminder, an overpaid blue line of veteran rearguards, decades of pressure from losing in the most gut-wrenching of ways, and a 35-year-old forward off a PTO who's only played 91 games combined in three seasons – what could possibly go wrong?

The Maple Leafs are at a tipping point and not like Max Pacioretty on a relatively non-invasive one-year deal is the be-all and end-all of Toronto's season, but this is another piece of news coming out of the Eastern Conference that astute fantasy GMs will be all over. Mainly because Patches win over his new head coach Craig Berube and potentially get a look in a deadly Leafs top-six group. As much as everyone in the fantasy game is loving Matthew Knies and what he brings to the table, if he struggles out of the gate and Pacioretty continues to play well, it's doubtful Berube will hesitate to go with the veteran American sniper with multiple 30-goal seasons in his quiver. Knies is likely to get a pretty decent shot at sticking on the top line alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but if Pacioretty can creep up the depth chart with some timely goals, his fantasy value skyrockets should he land on with the number one unit.

More Injury Blows for CBJ With Jenner, Voronkov

Out of respect for everything this fan base, organization, coaching staff, training staff, and roster has gone through, we're keeping this as short and positive as possible. The Blue Jackets will be a playoff team sooner-than-later, but the immediate future points to nothing but the basement for a very young team that just cannot catch a break on the injury front. Both Dmitri Voronkov and Boone Jenner will be absent from Columbus' lineup for the foreseeable future as both are dealing with serious upper-body injuries. Immediately this adds intrigue while bringing opportunity for the likes of Yegor Chinakhov, James van Riemsdyk, and former fifth-overall pick Kent Johnson. Other than, perhaps, Adam Fantilli and Zach Werenski, this is a club to avoid when it comes to investing into their fantasy hockey targets. At best, look to this team as a week-to-week fill-in option.