Welcome to NHL Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of players who command significant buzz in the league. When a player is on this list, it might not be a good thing – it means he’s getting a lot of the hockey world’s attention.
These players aren’t ranked in any particular order when it comes to the buzz they create. We will revisit the Star Power Index each week throughout the regular season.
The Chicago Blackhawks may have the worst 30 points in the NHL this season, but that hasn’t stopped phenom Connor Bedard from dominating on the ice.
Bédard extended his career point streak to eight straight games in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. The Blackhawks star had a goal and an assist while adding an insurance goal in the third period to put the contest out of reach.
In doing so, Bédard became only the fourth teenager in franchise history to have an eight-game point streak, joining Jonathan Toews (2007-08), Eddie Olczyk (1985-86) and Bobby Hull. (1957-58).
Bédard managed to extend his point streak in the first period of Wednesday’s game when he scored a goal from teammate Ilya Mikheyev.
At 16:48 of the first period, Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard tried to clear the puck from the corner. However, Bédard was able to use his active stick to deflect the pass, and Mikheyev was able to get the puck past Avalanche blocker Trent Miner to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.
The pass was the 65th of Bédard’s career and tied franchise icon Patrick Kane for second for most assists by a teenager in team history, trailing only Olczyk (80).
With the Blackhawks clinging to a 2-1 advantage in the third period, Bédard found the back of the net thanks to some superb passes from his teammates. At 11:54 of the final period, defenseman Seth Jones sent the puck toward forward Tyler Bertuzzi in the neutral zone, and Bertuzzi handed it to a surging Bédard. The talented 19-year-old skated in and fired a snap shot past Miner to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.
Bédard had four goals and seven assists during his eight-game point streak, and had an assist in six of those games. The young Blackhawks star currently leads the team in points (37) and assists (26) at the halfway point of the season.
The Blackhawks are in the midst of a rebuilding effort, but Bédard certainly makes the future look extremely bright. After winning the Calder Trophy as NHL top rookie a year ago, Bédard is on pace for 74 points this season, which would easily surpass his rookie campaign.
Colorado Avalanche star forward Nathan MacKinnon is taking the NHL by storm in terms of the battle for the points lead. However, teammate Mikko Rantanen also placed himself in the running for one of the NHL’s most prestigious awards during the first half of the season.
Rantanen is currently tied for second in goals (25), while ranking third in the league in points (60) behind only MacKinnon (68) and Leon Draisaitl (61). The Avalanche winger has scored a goal in six of his last seven games, including a stretch where he scored in five straight games.
Rantanen recently scored Colorado’s only goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on January 4.
Midway through the opening period, Rantanen benefited from a superb pass from MacKinnon. With the Avalanche on the power play, defenseman Cale Makar tossed the puck to MacKinnon, who ended up skating to the edge of the faceoff circle before dishing out a laser pass that Rantanen tapped in for the easy goal .
Rantanen’s goal ended up giving Colorado a 1-0 advantage at the time.
The Avalanche star has surpassed the 40-goal mark in each of the last two seasons. Rantanen is definitely within earshot of Draisaitl for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league leader in goals considering he is on pace for 48 this season.
Rantanen has a knack for putting the puck in the net, and it doesn’t hurt that he plays on a line with one of the NHL’s most gifted playmakers, MacKinnon. With this feather in his cap, Rantanen’s play-offs have been very common in recent seasons.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to make the playoffs after missing the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. Veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson is doing his best to help the Penguins cross the finish line.
Karlsson currently ranks eighth among NHL defensemen in points (31), while also being eighth in assists (27) as of Friday. The Penguins defenseman has at least one point in four of his last five games and has five assists in that span.
In Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers, Karlsson’s offensive prowess led the Penguins to a late insurance goal.
At 5:42 of the second period, Karlsson received the puck at the blue line and ended up putting it on net on a shot that went just wide of the cage. However, the puck ricocheted off the board behind the net and towards forward Michael Bunting. Bunting then found Sidney Crosby open to the left of the Oilers net and Crosby didn’t miss his opportunity to score an easy goal.
The insurance goal proved to be quite important as the Oilers scored two goals to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Penguins made a splash in the 2023 offseason by acquiring Karlsson in a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Karlsson brings a lot of offensive acumen and has no problem putting the puck on net when the opportunity presents itself. Although Karlsson didn’t get a primary on this play, he helped make it possible.
The Penguins likely won’t benefit from another 25-goal season with Karlsson, but his ability to score from the blue line is still something the opposing team needs to defend. Karlsson should prove to be one of Pittsburgh’s biggest assets as they march toward a playoff berth this season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy posted a 2.90 goals-against average and .900 save percentage last season, and those aren’t the kind of numbers the hockey world has gotten used to seeing from from the veteran goalie. However, Vasilevskiy has definitely found his rhythm guarding the court this season.
Vasilevskiy currently has an 18-12-1 record, a 2.36 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender has allowed two goals or less in each of his last five games.
Most recently, Vasilevskiy stopped 27 of 28 shots he faced in a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. In fact, he stopped 11 shots in the final 20 minutes to keep the Bruins at bay in an important Atlantic Division matchup.
Thursday’s win marked Vasilevskiy’s 311th career victory and moved him past former Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen for eighth among goalies born outside of North America in the history of the NHL.
Vasilevskiy has been playing extremely well since the calendar flipped to 2025. After all, the Lightning goaltender has posted a 2.05 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in four starts this month.
Vasilevskiy continues to be a brick wall at times at this point in his NHL career. According to MoneyPuck, the Russian goaltender recorded a .958 save percentage on blocked shots this season. If anything close to that type of production continues, it’s hard to imagine the Lightning missing out on one of the top three playoff spots in the Atlantic Division.
