Welcome fantasy managers to another edition of the Eastern Edge. This week we'll be taking a look at the Philadelphia Flyers late season surge, the New York Islanders slide since the Olympic break and a nice bounce back season for New York Rangers blueliner Adam Fox.

Let's get to it!

The Philadelphia Flyers sure are making things interesting as it relates to the Eastern Conference playoff race with a late season surge over the last few weeks. The Flyers have been playing some of their best hockey of the campaign since returning from the Olympic break with a 14-6-1 record (only the Buffalo Sabres have a better record during that span) while tightening things up defensively allowing the second lowest goals against per game at 2.43 and the fifth fewest amount of shots against per game at 24.6 during that timeframe.

The club's goaltending is perhaps the biggest reason for the Flyers' late season push up the Eastern Conference standings as both netminders have brought their respective games to the next level. Newcomer Dan Vladar has been relatively consistent for most of the campaign, however, the 28-year-old has been even better since the league returned from the Olympic break with a solid 9-5-1 record accompanied by a 2.35 goals against and .908 save percentage including a 66.7% quality start rate and 3.22 goals saved above expected.

Meanwhile, Samuel Ersson, who has had his struggles this year, is raising his level of play at just the right time for this surprising Flyers squad. Ersson has fashioned a 5-1-0 record accompanied by a miniscule 1.86 goals against and .913 save percentage including a 57.1% quality start rate and 3.21 goals saved above expected since coming out of the Olympic break.

It certainly doesn't hurt to have your best players playing as such with the forward ranks offering up some rather solid production in the form of Travis Konecny (6PTS his last 5GP), Owen Tippett (9PTS his last 10GP), Trevor Zegras (8PTS his last 10GP) and Matvei Michkov (9PTS his last 10GP). On top of that, Philadelphia just recently inserted former sixth overall pick Porter Martone into the line up and the young 19-year-old has not disappointed posting 3PTS in 4GP to begin his career.

There is plenty to be excited about when it comes to this team’s outlook moving forward as well as its prospect pipeline. The only thing needed now is a little patience…………something the Philly faithful are not exactly known for.

The New York Islanders are unfortunately headed in the opposite direction compared to the surging Philadelphia Flyers as the Islanders have dropped their last four games while owning a 3-7-0 record over their last 10 games. This prompted General Manager Mathieu Darche to make a change at the head coaching position from Hall Of Fame former player Patrick Roy to veteran coach Pete DeBoer.

The Islanders now find themselves on the outside looking in as the club tries to right the ship on what has otherwise been a rather successful campaign. That being said, moves were made at the deadline to push this group forward into the NHL's postseason, however, those moves have just not gained any traction over the last few weeks for whatever reason.

The team’s record since returning from the Olympic break is pedestrian to say the least with New York posting a 10-10-0 record while being outscored by the opposition 67-57 during that span. The Islanders defensive structure has fallen off since play resumed after the Olympic break as New York ranks 21st in goals against per game at 3.35. This of course has bled into the team goaltending as Ilya Sorokin has struggled over the past month and a half posting an 8-9-0 record accompanied by a 3.12 goals against and .892 save percentage including a 47.1% quality start rate and 4.47 goals saved above expected.

In addition to the club's defensive play, one has to wonder if uber-talented rookie Matthew Schaefer is beginning to hit a wall as the 18-year-old sensation is logging a team high 26:15 of ice time per night compared to the 24:30 he was playing heading into the break…….some food for thought.

It has been a lost year for the New York Rangers as the team has been out of playoff contention for some time now. However, blueliner Adam Fox is having a nice little bounce back in overall production as the 28-year old American has put together some impressive numbers with 50PTS in 51GP while logging a team high 23:33 a night with an average of 3:15 coming on the power play. Fox has been even better of late with 13 PTS in his last 7GP offering up some great production at the most important time of year……the fantasy hockey playoffs.

That's it for this week folks. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Weekend Waiver Wire over at the Goalie Post each and every Friday morning for potential streaming options at the goaltending position heading into the weekend.

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

(All stats courtesy of: Dobber's Frozen Tools)

See you all again next Tuesday!