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Eastern Conference bounce-back player of the year?

January 23, 2019, 2:16 PM ET [31 Comments]
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In this edition of the hotstove, we share our picks for bounce-back player of the year in the Eastern Conference.

Todd Cordell

It has to be Robin Lehner.

Last year was very tough for him. As bad as things were going on the ice (he posted a .908 save percentage and won just 14 of 53 games for a disappointing Buffalo team), he was dealing with much more important issues off of it.

Not only did he seek the help he needed, which is a hard thing to do, to get his personal life back on track, but he's made a heck of a comeback on the ice as well.

Lehner has been lights out to date posting a .927 save percentage through 27 games. He is a key reason the New York Islanders, who I admittedly expected very little from, currently sit atop the Metro Division.

Peter Tessier

For me, this is a toss-up between Lehner and Skinner. For years Jeff Skinner has been subject to multiple trade rumors due to being in Carolina and his concussion history. Set free and in a system that at times seems chaotic, he has excelled in spite of being a Sabre. He's going to get paid and rightfully so as he's a damn good player.

Lehner, to the contrary of Skinner, has been a Sabre and suffered but now on a team with a great coach and stable management has thrived and back to where he had a ton of promise with the Ottawa Senators early in his career. Last year all the talk was of Islanders finding some sort of stable goaltending and Lehner has provided it and look at what has happened.

Flip a coin I like either of these guys but if I had to choose one I go with Lehner.

James Tanner

The bounce back player of the year is Robin Lehner. He was openly talking about his recovery from addiction and now he's putting up hall of fame worthy numbers.

He's taken a definite non playoff team to the top of their division and would win the Vezina if the season ended today.

Considering a terrible team kicked him to the curb only last year, this is a remarkable transformation and a great comeback story.

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