Welcome fantasy managers to another edition of the Eastern Edge. This week we are going to take a closer look at the Tampa Bay Lightning's return to dominance, Washington's continued excellence, a dark horse Vezina candidate, two Florida Panthers forwards on the prowl, and the Carolina Hurricanes Bus(si).

The Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to resemble the championship teams that were so dominant only a few years ago. The roster may have been retooled slightly, however, the results are strikingly similar with the organization really hitting their stride in the month of November. The Lightning currently own the Atlantic division's top spot with a phenomenal 15-7-2 record accompanied by a +16 goal differential, while also riding a seven-game win streak where they have outscored their opponents by a 30-10 margin.

The Big Cat, Andrei Vasilevskiy, is proving why he is the undisputed backbone of this club as the former Vezina winner is once again at the height of his powers owning a superb 11-5-2 record combined with a 2.26 goals against and .917 save percentage. Vasilevskiy has been even better of late having put together an unblemished 6-0-0 record accompanied by a miniscule 1.17 goals against and incredible .959 save percentage in six games with all six being quality starts.

Tampa Bay's vaunted offense continues to flex its muscle as the Lightning are ranked seventh offensively at 3.36 goals per game played on the strength of some pretty impressive performances over the last few weeks from the team’s stars. The supremely talented Nikita Kucherov is at it again with a ridiculous 18PTS in his last 9GP, while hard-nosed winger Brandon Hagel has been on an absolute tear of late having put up(12PTS in his last 5GP including a five-game goal streak. Not to be outdone is fellow sniper Jake Guentzel who has been playing at a point-per-game level all year having put up 27PTS in 25GP. Last but certainly not least is do-it-all forward Anthony Cirelli who has quietly amassed a total of 17PTS in 21GP while anchoring the club's number one ranked penalty kill unit (88.8%). 

The team’s blueline has been rather decimated this year with current injuries to top four defensemen Ryan McDonagh (10 games missed), Victor Hedman (10 games missed) and Erik Cernak (six games missed). However, some pleasant surprises on the backend are mitigating most of those losses with veteran Darren Raddysh easily being the biggest having put up 16PTS in 19GP with seven of those points coming in his last three games played. Meanwhile, fellow first pairing defenseman J.J. Moser has been invaluable in stepping up his play with the team’s litany of injuries this season having gone +14 in his last ten games played while averaging between 22 – 23 minutes per night in addition to his work on the club's aforementioned penalty kill.

The scariest part about the Lightning's phenomenal start to the year is that they are not only dealing with a number of injuries to their blueline but also with the early season struggles to first-line center Brayden Point who has amassed a rather pedestrian 11PTS in 21GP and is currently day-to-day. Once this team is fully healthy, they are going to be more of a problem than they are already. Buckle up!

The Washington Capitals are looking like a team that no one would want to face in the NHL's postseason as the Capitals are playing a heavy brand of hockey that has been their identity for a number of years. It's a recipe they continue to deploy with great success as evidenced by their 14-9-2 record and +16 goal differential as the team's offensive attack has become much more balanced in recent years.

Banger league favorite Tom Wilson leads the way offensively with 29PTS in 26GP, 57 SOG / 69 HITS / 16 BLKS, giving fantasy managers some incredible coverage across the board. Team captain Alex Ovechkin is again producing at an elite level with (25PTS in 26GP, .92PPG) at the ripe old age of 40! Jakob Chychrun (13PTS his last 11GP, 23PTS in 26GP, 1.08PPG) continues to cement his status as the heir apparent to John Carlson (22PTS IN 25GP) and is currently the league leader amongst defensemen in goal scoring with 10. First-line center Dylan Strome is a tad behind last year’s point pace, yet still contributing to the team’s cause with 21PTS in 24GP, or .88PPG.

The team’s goaltending duo remains one of Washington’s strengths with Logan Thompson stating his case as not only the Capitals undisputed number one netminder but also to Team Canada brass for the upcoming Olympics in Cortina, Italy. Thompson is having another solid start to the campaign in fashioning a 11-6-1 record accompanied by a tidy 2.08 goals against and .916 save percentage in addition to a 77.8 quality start percentage. The Calgary, Alberta native has been a steadying force in the Capitals crease ranking fourth league-wide in GSAx at 16.8 demonstrating just how exceptional he has been for the Capitals this year. Young forward Ryan Leonard has endeared himself to the Washington faithful with his abrasive style of play combined with an impressive skillset. The 20-year-old has produced 13PTS in 26GP (.50PPG) which places him in a tie for fourth amongst rookies. Leonard is also a sought-after commodity in bangers league with a total of 38 hits on the year increasing his overall value in those formats.

Morgan Geekie is good at hockey….

The Bruins first line right winger is quite literally doing it all right now having amassed 26PTS in 27GP, 70SOG / 50HITS / 10BLKS while playing under 18 minutes a night. Geekie has stepped up even more so recently with (8PTS in his last 6GP) the last two without the services of star linemate David Pastrnak. The 27-year-old will continue to be productive with his current deployment as well as ever encouraging signs that he can also produce away from Pastrnak (albeit a small sample size).

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar has taken a stranglehold of the team crease while at the same time paying big dividends to those fantasy managers wise enough to employ a Zero G strategy by selecting him during draft season. Vladar is benefitting greatly from coach Rick Tocchet's more defensive approach having put together an excellent 10-5-1 record with a solid 2.59 goals against and .906 save percentage in addition to a 75.0% quality start percentage for an up-an-coming Flyers squad. The 28-year old currently sits tied for 7^th in wins, 11^th in goals against average (min. 10GP), tied for 12^th in save percentage (min. 10GP), and 11^th in goals saved above expected (GSAx). The only caution would be to keep on eye on his games played as the former Calgary Flame has never started more than 30 games in any one campaign, something to monitor into the league’s second half.

A couple of Florida Panthers forwards are starting to heat up as first line staple Sam Reinhart is carrying a hot stick with 15PTS in his last 9GP and 23PTS in 24GP, meanwhile the do-it-all Carter Verhaeghe has posted (6PTS in his last 3GP) and is a prime buy-low candidate with his regular deployment amongst the teams top six in combination with a role on Florida's top power-play unit. Contributions from both aforementioned players will be vital if the Panthers are to make any kind of playoff push in the absence of team leaders Matthew Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov.

Brandon Bussi is making a strong case to take over the Hurricanes crease as the former Boston Bruin is on quite a run to begin the year with a tidy 7-1 record accompanied by a phenomenal 2.11 goals against and .907 save percentage along with a 62.5 quality start percentage and one shutout. The simple fact that both Frederik Andersen as well as Pyotr Kochetkov cannot seem to remain healthy for any length of time only increases Bussi's value moving forward, not to mention the dominant possession game the team employes in front of him and you have not only a great add off the waiver wire but also a potential hold all together. Fantasy managers employing the Zero G strategy rejoice! 

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.

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See you all again next Tuesday!