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.
Kirill Kaprizov is certainly one of the most elite playmakers in any country. NHL. Lately, the Minnesota Wild star has been putting the puck in the net at a high level.
Kaprizov has four goals and two assists in his last four games and has scored a goal in four of his last six games. On Tuesday, the Wild winger scored two goals in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Kaprizov also had 13 points (six goals and seven assists), while recording at least one point in each of his last seven meetings.
In Tuesday’s game, the Blues and Wild were deadlocked at 1-1 after trading goals in the first two periods. It was at this point that Kaprizov was able to give his team a brief advantage over their Western Conference counterparts.
At 6:07 of the final period, Wild defenseman Jake Middleton managed to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Middleton was then able to find his way to the net before releasing a wrist shot that Kaprizov managed to deflect past Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Kaprizov also added an empty-net goal that put the game out of reach in the final 90 seconds. It was the Wild star’s fourth multi-goal performance of the season.
The Wild forward has been incredibly efficient so far. Kaprizov is scoring on 22.0% of his shots and his 59 shots put him second on the team behind Matt Boldy.
Kaprizov is currently on track for 150 points (59 goals and 91 assists). Obviously, it would shatter his career high in points (108) if he came close to those good numbers, so it’s safe to say he’s in the Hart Trophy conversation right now. While that pace may not be sustainable, Kaprizov is doing his best to push the Wild toward a playoff spot.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without star forward Auston Matthews in recent weeks. As a result, they had to rely on some of their other star players to carry the offensive load, including talented winger Mitch Marner.
Despite not having Matthews in the lineup, the Maple Leafs have put together a very impressive streak that includes six wins in their last seven games. Marner has been a big producer during this specific stretch as he has two goals and four assists in his last three games.
Marner even had a sense of drama in the Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
With the game tied 3-3 in overtime, the Oilers’ dynamic duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid attempted to put the game away. Instead, a Draisaitl pass was blocked by the Maple Leafs defense, and it was off to the races in the other direction.
Marner managed to recover the loose puck and got into a duel with teammate John Tavares. Instead of passing the puck, Marner chose to keep it and fired a shot past goaltender Stuart Skinner’s blocker for the game-winning goal.
The game-winning goal also gave Marner a milestone as it was the Maple Leafs star’s 200th career goal. In doing so, Marner became the 16th player in franchise history to reach the 200 goal mark.
Marner also had two assists in a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs forward had the primary assists on two Toronto goals, including a William Nylander power play goal.
This is a huge season for Marner, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Marner is having an extremely productive campaign at the right time as he leads the Maple Leafs in points (26) and assists (20). Toronto may need Marner’s productivity to continue to be at the elite level if Matthews remains out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.
Zach Werenski produced a historic performance in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 7-6 overtime victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Werenski tied a franchise record for points in a game (5) and also became the first Blue Jackets defenseman to record a five-point performance. He became the first Blue Jackets to win a five-point game since Johnny Gaudreau accomplished the feat on March 14, 2023.
Werenski also became the first defenseman to record five points in a game this season, a feat only accomplished by four defensemen a year ago.
The Blue Jackets star scored two goals and three assists against the Lightning, including the game-winning goal in overtime.
Just 1:26 into overtime, Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger managed to pass the puck to Werenski from the faceoff circle in the offensive zone. After putting the puck on his stick, Werenski worked his way into the slot and fired a scorching shot past Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson to win the game.
The Blue Jackets defenseman also collected the first assist on forward Kent Johnson’s two goals throughout Thursday’s game. He also had a secondary assist on a Dmitri Voronkov goal early in the second period.
As of Friday, Werenski is tied for second in the league in points (19) among defensemen, while ranking second in goals (6). Werenski is currently on a four-game point streak, and he has three goals and six assists during that stretch. Thursday’s game was also his second multi-point performance in the last four contests.
Werenski continues to be a stabilizing presence on the back end for a Blue Jackets team that is just three points out of a Wild Card berth entering the season. If this type of production continues, perhaps a return to the playoffs could be a real possibility.
The Buffalo Sabers are trying to be a more consistent hockey team after a rough start to the season. Goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is helping to make that ambition a reality with his play in the crease.
Most recently, Luukkonen pitched a shutout in a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Luukkonen ended up stopping all 23 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season.
After his victory against Los Angeles, Luukkonen improved his record to 4-0-1 in his last five outings.
Luukkonen has provided great consistency between the posts in recent weeks. During the month of November, the Sabers goaltender compiled a 4-1-0 record, a 1.76 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage in six starts.
The Sabers rewarded Luukkonen with a five-year, $23.75 million contract extension last summer, representing an average annual value of $4.75 million. If Luukkonen can continue to produce in the crease, the Sabers have certainly found their goaltender of the future.
