Welcome to the NHL Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing — it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world’s attention.
These players are in no particular order when it comes to the amount of buzz that they’re creating. We’ll revisit the Star Power Index every 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 racked up three goals and five assists across his last three games, and has tallied a point in each of those three contests. In addition, the Devils star has registered multi-point performances in back-to-back games.
In Monday’s dominant 5-1 win against the New York Rangers, Hughes recorded two goals and an assist in his seventh three-point performance of the season.
Hughes really displayed his stellar playmaking ability to help the Devils extend their lead in the second period.
At the 9:04 mark of the frame, Devils forward Jesper Bratt dished the puck off to Hughes in the face-off circle of the offensive zone. Shortly after receiving the puck, Hughes dished it back across the slot where it ultimately found defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who buried a shot past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
With his second-period helper, Hughes now is tied for sixth in the NHL in assists (22). In fact, he’s registered four assists in his last two games alone.
Later in the period, Hughes was able to get into the scoring column. At the 12:38 mark, the puck squirted out to Devils defenseman Luke Hughes at the blue line. Luke ended up putting a shot on net that got deflected, and that’s when Jack pounced on the rebound. Jack got the rebound and converted a spinning shot into the back of the net to give the Devils a commanding 4-0 lead.
Hughes has continued to showcase his talent as one of the league’s most talented young stars. The last three games have also shown that he can affect the game in a variety ways, and put the puck into the net at a moment’s notice.
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 registered a secondary assist on teammate William Eklund’s overtime goal to help give the Sharks a 1-0 win on Tuesday. In doing so, Celebrini extended his point streak to five consecutive 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 towards the net before dishing a spinning backhanded pass back to teammate Mikael Granlund, who was near the blue line. Granlund ended up getting the puck to Eklund in the face-off circle and he buried a one-timer for the game-winning goal.
Celebrini has now tallied four goals and four assists across his last six games. The Sharks rookie forward also recorded a goal and an assist in a 8-5 win against Seattle Kraken on Friday.
The No. 1 pick showed off his scoring touch in the second period when he jumped into the rush. Fabian Zetterlund was able to secure the loose puck in the neutral zone before getting it over to Celebrini for a beautiful snap shot goal on Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer to give the Sharks a 6-4 lead.
Celebrini has certainly lived up to the billing over his last two months. The 18-year old has displayed his ability to take over a game and looks like the star that the Sharks envisioned him to be when they selected him with the No. 1 pick last June.
The Washington Capitals have quietly been playing some of the best hockey around the NHL as of late. Offseason acquisition Jakob Chychrun has proved to be an asset on the offensive end of the ice in recent weeks.
Chychrun has registered a goal in two of his last three games, including one that was of the dramatic variety.
In a 5-4 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Friday, Chychrun tallied the game-winning goal just 1:20 into the extra frame. Chychrun raced up the ice with the puck and faced little opposition as he entered the Islanders zone. The veteran defenseman was able to rip a snap shot into the back of the net to give the Capitals a big win.
Chyrchrun also registered a power-play goal in a 6-5 win against the Devils on Saturday as he tallied goals on back-to-back nights. To make the feat even more impressive, it marked his second power-play goal in the last five games.
It’s no secret that Chychrun has always been a very offensive-minded defenseman, which is evident in his two 40-point seasons since entering the league. In his first campaign with the Capitals, he’s already registered 15 points (eight goals & seven assists), and is currently on pace for 62 points on the year.
Obviously, that kind of production may not be sustainable playing on the blue line, but Chychrun has really provided a stabilizing presence on both ends of the ice for Washington.
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner had a rough start to the season but looks to be turning the corner.
Skinner tallied a 3.51 goals-against-average and a .872 save percentage over the first month of the season. However, the Oilers netminder 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 on Tuesday.
In that particular contest, Skinner turned aside 15 of the 16 shots that he faced.
Skinner also put together a similar performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The 26-year old stopped 27-of-28 shots in a 4-1 win against their Western Conference counterparts and was able to fend off a barrage of shots from the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in the third period.
Skinner has now allowed two or fewer goals in four of his last five contests.
It appears that Skinner has regained his focus in the crease and is playing some of the best hockey of the young season. If he continue to keep the opposition at this rate, the Oilers can certainly make another Stanley Cup run later this season.
