Welcome fantasy managers to another edition of the Eastern Edge. This week we are going to take a closer look at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ resurgence, New Jersey’s continued struggles without superstar Jack Hughes, Ilya Sorokin‘s elite level of play, and the New York Rangers ongoing search for consistency.

The Penguins are enjoying a rather successful campaign so far and have certainly turned back the clock as the team is currently holding down the East’s first wild card spot with a solid 14-7-6 record while owning a +8 goal differential. The Penguins have been getting some phenomenal performances from their star players with Sidney Crosby (18G, 11A, 1.11PPG), Evgeni Malkin (9G, 20A, 1.12PPG), Bryan Rust (8G, 13A, .84PPG) and Erik Karlsson (1G,17A, .67PPG) all staving off father time.

Pittsburgh’s special teams have been dominating at both ends of the ice and are a big reason for the team’s early success this year with the league’s top power play percentage at 33.3% efficiency while at the same time ranking fourth overall on the penalty kill with an 85.0% success rate. In addition, the Penguins have been receiving some major contributions in goal with Tristan Jarry finding some much-needed consistency again as the now 30-year-old is sporting a 9-2-1 record accompanied by a respectable 2.54 goals against and .913 save percentage combined with a 61.5 quality start percentage and 8.43 GSAx. Those are some incredible numbers for a netminder who was seen as a poster boy for fantasy managers employing the Zero G strategy this past off-season.

The good news in the crease does not end there with rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov showcasing himself both in the American Hockey League with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (7-2-0, 1.73GAA, .935SV%) as well as with the Penguins themselves going a combined (1-1-1, 1.90GAA, .913SV%). The 21-year-old is adapting quite well to life on this side of the pond with his level of play and ever-growing confidence between the pipes. Lastly, off-season acquisition Arturs Silovs has also played reasonably well with a 4-4-4 record, an elevated 3.00 goals against, and .898 save percentage accompanied by a telling 66.7 quality start percentage. This indicates that the young netminder is giving his team a chance on most nights he finds himself in the blue paint regardless on the inflated peripheral numbers.

One last thing I wanted to mention as it relates to the Penguins would be the pleasant surprise of some much needed secondary scoring in the form of Anthony Mantha (8G, 8A, 49-point pace), Justin Brazeau (6G, 6A, 1.00PPG – only 13GP) and to a lesser extent Ben Kindel (7G, 3A, 15:28TOI, 2:09PPTOI) who was drafted this past summer 11th overall which is rather impressive.

Pittsburgh’s core may be aging, however, this iteration of the Penguins is proving to be quite scrappy and determined in keeping their window of contention open as the club looks for one more deep playoff run with its future Hall of Famers leading the charge.

Devils are 4-8-0 without Jack Hughes, losing five in a row now and being outscored 20-7 over that stretch. They closed last season 9-11-1 without him and barely hung onto a playoff spot. He’s a pretty important player. #NJDevils

— Michael Amato (@amato_mike) December 8, 2025

The New Jersey Devils are once again finding out what life is like without the services of their superstar centre Jack Hughes as the team is currently in the midst of a five-game losing streak. The primary reason for the Devils’ woes is in the offensive end as the points have dried up a little when it comes to the teams point producers. The most notable would be first line winger Jesper Bratt (0PTS in his last 3GP), captain Nico Hischier (1PT his last 3GP), Timo Meier (1PT in his last 3GP) along with defenseman Luke Hughes (1PT in his last 6GP).

Mind you, if New Jersey was getting any kind of secondary scoring of late it would certainly help cushion the blow as secondary options Dawson Mercer (0PTS in his last 3GP), Arseny Gritsyuk (0PTS in his last 3GP) and veteran defenseman Dougie Hamilton (0PTS in his last 6GP) have also gone cold over the past number of weeks.

That being said, the team’s issues do not lie solely with their offensive game as New Jersey’s team defense has also led to the Devils slide down the Eastern Conference standings. In the twelve games that Hughes has now missed, New Jersey has struggled to a 4-8-0 record while scoring (2.08 GF/GP) only to concede (3.25 GA/GP) which by extension has not been beneficial to the Devils goaltenders.

Jacob Markstrom has not performed well up to this point, having put together a 7-6-1 record with a bloated 3.51 goals against and .867 save percentage along with a 21.4 quality start percentage so far this year. Meanwhile, backup Jake Allen has performed considerably better sporting an 8-6-0 record accompanied by a 2.52 goals and .908 save percentage that includes a 53.3 quality start percentage. Quite simply the Devils will need to tighten things up defensively (currently ranked 18th) while also getting more out of Markstrom if they have any aspirations of contending for a Stanley Cup.    

Ilya Sorokin is having a fairly decent season numbers-wise with a New York Islanders squad that seems to be rejuvenated with the arrival of first overall pick and supremely talented offensive defenseman Matthew Schaefer. The 30-year-old Russian netminder has fashioned a 10-8-2 record followed by a solid 2.47 goals against and .911 save percentage which includes a 45.0 quality start percentage in addition to three shutouts.

That is certainly nothing to sneeze at, however, Sorokin has been brilliant as of late putting together an unblemished 3-0-0 record with a miniscule 1.33 goals against and incredible .960 save percentage with victories over the red-hot Tampa Bay Lighting (X2) and league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

The Islanders have been the feel-good story of the year so far as they currently sit third in the Metro division standings while having gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games played. If this New York Islanders organization has any intention of continuing their push towards a playoff spot they are going to need Sorokin to maintain this elite level of play in order to support the league’s seventh ranked defense (2.69 GA/GP)

To top it all off, Sorokin closed out the week by tying the New York Islanders franchise record for shutouts (25) and now joins Glenn “Chico” Resch atop the team’s all-time list. Quite an achievement considering some of the Islanders teams of the past few years.

It has been an odd and trying campaign for the New York Rangers, yet here they are in an absolute dog fight with no fewer than a half-dozen teams for two wild card spots through the first week of December. The Rangers have remained relevant on the strength of their impressive road record having gone 12-4-1 away from Madison Square Garden while struggling mightily at home with a record of 3-8-3.

The Rangers defensive game has been on point under new coach Mike Sullivan as they currently sit sixth overall in goals against per game (2.61) with both Igor Shesterkin and veteran Jonathan Quick being the backbone to Sullivan’s structured system. Shesterkin is having a very productive year so far with a 12-9-3 record accompanied by a 2.46 goals against and .913 save percentage in addition to a 75.0 quality start percentage and 12.53 GSAx. Jonathan Quick, who has just returned from injury, has done everything asked of him in posting a 3-3-1 record with a sizzling 1.86 goals against and .937 save percentage, including an 71.4 quality start percentage.

The most encouraging part for New York Rangers fans is that the team’s offense (5v5) has been a little unlucky up to this point with the club’s expected goals for sitting at 66.99 (8th overall) compared to their actual goals for per game (5v5) which is currently 53 (tied for 18th overall). If the Rangers can ratchet up the offense even just a little bit, it would go a long way in helping the organization secure a more permanent playoff seeding as we continue to navigate through the second quarter of the 2025-2026 NHL campaign.    

That’s it for this week folks, keep an eye out for my Weekend Waiver Wire column every Friday morning 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!