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 New Jersey Devils are tied for the most points in the Eastern Conference, and Jack Hughes is leading the charge in that success.
Hughes has three goals and five assists in his last three games and has a point in each of those three contests. Additionally, the Devils star recorded multi-point performances in back-to-back games.
In Monday’s dominant 5-1 win over the New York Rangers, Hughes had two goals and an assist in his seventh three-point performance of the season.
Hughes really showed off his excellent playmaking ability to help the Devils extend their lead in the second period.
At 9:04 of the period, Devils forward Jesper Bratt handed the puck to Hughes in the offensive zone faceoff circle. Shortly after receiving the puck, Hughes sent it back through the slot where she eventually found defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who fired a shot past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
Thanks to his assist in the second period, Hughes is now tied for sixth in the standings. NHL in assists (22). In fact, he has recorded four assists in his last two games alone.
Later in the period, Hughes managed to get into the scoring column. At 12:38, the puck headed toward Devils defenseman Luke Hughes at the blue line. Luke ended up putting a shot on net that was deflected, and that’s when Jack pounced on the rebound. Jack collected the rebound and converted a spinning shot into the back of the net to give the Devils a 4-0 lead.
Hughes continued to showcase his talent as one of the most talented young stars in the league. The last three games have also shown that he can influence the game in a variety of ways and put the puck in the net at any time.
Macklin Celebrini burst onto the scene with a goal in his very first NHL game back in October. Unfortunately for the top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, he suffered a hip injury and missed nearly a month of action.
Since returning to the ice last month, Celebrini has really found his stride at the professional level. In fact, Celebrini has scored seven goals and dished out six assists since returning to the lineup.
Most recently, Celebrini recorded a secondary assist on teammate William Eklund’s overtime goal to help the Sharks win 1-0 on Tuesday. In doing so, Celebrini extended his point streak to five straight games and tied Pat Falloon for the second-longest point streak by a teenager in Sharks history.
On that play, Celebrini began skating with the puck toward the net before returning a backhanded pass to teammate Mikael Granlund, who was near the blue line. Granlund ended up handing the puck to Eklund in the faceoff circle and he buried a one-timer for the game-winning goal.
Celebrini has now recorded four goals and four assists in his last six games. The Sharks rookie forward also had a goal and an assist in an 8-5 win over the Seattle Kraken on Friday.
The No. 1 pick showed off his scoring touch in the second half when he went for the run. Fabian Zetterlund was able to collect the loose puck in the neutral zone before feeding it to Celebrini for a beautiful snapshot over Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer to give the Sharks a 6-4 lead.
Celebrini has certainly lived up to expectations in her last couple of months. The 18-year-old has demonstrated the ability to take charge of a game and looks like the star the Sharks imagined he would be when they selected him with the No. 1 pick last June.
The Washington Capitals have played some of the best hockey in the NHL recently. The off-season acquisition of Jakob Chychrun has proven to be an asset on the offensive end of the ice in recent weeks.
Chychrun has scored a goal in two of his last three games, including a dramatic one.
In a 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Friday, Chychrun scored the game-winning goal just 1:20 into the overtime period. Chychrun ran down the ice with the puck and faced little opposition when he entered the Islanders zone. The veteran defenseman was able to fire a snap shot into the back of the net to give the Capitals a big win.
Chyrchrun also scored a power play goal in a 6-5 win over the Devils on Saturday while scoring goals on back-to-back nights. To make the feat even more impressive, it was his second power play goal in the last five games.
It’s no secret that Chychrun has always been a very offensive defenseman, as evidenced by his two 40-point seasons since entering the league. In his first campaign with the Capitals, he has already scored 15 points (eight goals and seven assists) and is currently on pace for 62 points this year.
Obviously, that kind of production may not be sustainable on the blue line, but Chychrun has really provided a stabilizing presence at both ends of the ice for Washington.
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has had a rough start to the season, but he appears to be turning the corner.
Skinner had a 3.51 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in the first month of the season. However, the Oilers goaltender has recorded a 1.33 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage in his last three games, including allowing just one goal in a 1-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday.
In this particular contest, Skinner stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced.
Skinner also had a similar performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The 26-year-old stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 4-1 win over his Western Conference counterparts and managed to turn aside a barrage of shots from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in the third period.
Skinner has now allowed two goals or fewer in four of his last five games.
It appears Skinner has regained his focus in the crease and is playing some of the best hockey of the young season. If he continues to keep the opposition at this pace, the Oilers can certainly win another Stanley Cup later this season.
