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.
Entering Tuesday, Kyle Connor had been in a scoring drought. The Winnipeg Jets star had scored just one goal across his previous seven games, but the Michigan native got back on track in a big way against the Vancouver Canucks.
Connor recorded a natural hat trick in the opening 13:37 of Tuesday’s 6-1 win against the Canucks as he scored the game’s opening three goals. It marked the second-fastest hat trick to start off a game in franchise history.
In fact, Connor ended up scoring all three of his goals over a span of just 6:23 in the opening period. At the 6:59 mark of the first period, the talented winger got into the scoring column for the first time.
The Jets dumped the puck into the offensive zone and Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen attempted to shoot the puck up the boards towards the blue line. However, as a result of being shielded by Jets forward Mark Scheifele, teammate Gabriel Vilardi was able to cut off the clearing attempt, and found a wide-open Connor in front for the bang-bang goal.
Connor continued his reign of terror around the net just seven minutes later.
Vilardi passed the puck ahead to defenseman Neal Pionk in the neutral zone and it was off to the races. Pionk gained the offensive zone and ripped a snap shot that Lankinen was able to turn aside. However, Lankinen allowed the puck to squirt away from his control. Connor then was able to corral it and flip a backhanded shot past him from in close.
Just 36 seconds later, Connor finished off his natural hat trick in dramatic fashion. The Jets used crisp puck movement as Scheifele was able to secure the puck and push it ahead to Vilardi in the neutral zone. As he had earlier in the frame, Vilardi threaded the needle between two defenders to get the puck to Connor, and the Jets star went forehand-to-backhand to score his third goal of the night.
Connor simply was operating at any elite level during Tuesday’s contest, and it was much-needed.
The Jets forward had only netted four goals over the past month. This was Connor’s fifth multi-goal performance of the season, and perhaps a catalyst towards getting back on track.
At 28 years old, Connor McDavid has already etched his name alongside some of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of skates. On Wednesday, McDavid joined some very elite company in the history of the Edmonton Oilers organization.
McDavid tallied two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s 5-3 win against the Minnesota Wild. In doing so, McDavid passed Jari Kurri for sole possession of second place on the Oilers’ all-time points list with 1,044.
Now, he and Wayne Gretzky stand alone at the top of the list, though McDavid still has a ways to go to get to The Great One (1,669).
In addition, the Oilers star reached the 60-point mark for the ninth consecutive season. In doing so, McDavid joined Leon Draisaitl (2016-17 to 2024-25), Mitch Marner (2016-17 to 2024-25), Brad Marchand (2015-16 to 2023-24), Mark Scheifele (2015-16 to 2023-24), and Patrick Kane (2013-14 to 2021-22) in achieving the feat.
McDavid’s place on the Oilers all-time points list was secured on a third period goal during Wednesday’s contest.
At the 12:49 mark of the third period, Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard was able to make a save and Edmonton cleared the puck out of danger. At that moment, McDavid was able to corral the puck and head the other way on a two-on-one with teammate Zach Hyman. As Wild defenseman Jake Middleton slid across the slot, McDavid displayed remarkable patience, and perfectly tucked the puck over goaltender Filip Gustavsson for the sensational goal.
McDavid’s stick-handling was on a completely different level on this play, and his patience allowed the Oilers to put the game out of reach.
The Oilers star has already established himself as one of the most gifted playmakers that the sport has ever seen. As McDavid continues to make more history, it looks like it could be a formality as to when McDavid surpasses Gretzky for the most points in team history.
Zach Werenski is in the midst of playing some of the best hockey of his entire career. In fact, the Columbus Blue Jackets star may be in line for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman when it’s all said and done this season.
Werenski currently leads the Blue Jackets in points (51) and assists (36), and is only seven points from surpassing his current career-high point total (57). In fact, the Columbus blue-liner is on pace for 93 points on the season, which would shatter his previous career-best.
Werenski has tallied at least a point in seven of his last eight games and has scored four goals during that span. In Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Werenski scored a pair of goals to help push the Blue Jackets across the finish line.
After scoring an unassisted goal in the opening period, Werenski was able to tie the game for the Blue Jackets in the late stages of the third period.
With under five minutes remaining in regulation, the Blue Jackets were able to knock the puck away from Flyers forward Scott Laughton in the neutral zone. Columbus winger Kirill Marchenko brought the puck into the offensive zone and orchestrated a two-on-one rush to perfection. Marchenko waited for the right moment before sliding it over to Werenski, and Werenski ripped the puck into the open goal as Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov couldn’t slide across in time.
Werenski has really displayed his goal-scoring acumen this season, and is closing in on his career-high in goals (20), which he set during the 2019-20 campaign.
It’s hard to imagine Werenski not being in the Norris Trophy conversation even if his play dips a little bit throughout the rest of the season. Werenski has been a tremendous bright spot for a Blue Jackets team that currently owns the top Wild Card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In the 2024 offseason, the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals linked up on a trade that swapped goaltender Darcy Kuemper and forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. It was a deal that was completed due to the fact that both players just needed a change of scenery.
Midway through the season, Kuemper has benefitted from his new home in a big way.
Kuemper has racked up a 4-1-0 record, a 0.80 goals-against-average, and .971 save percentage so far in January. The veteran netminder has allowed one goal or less in each of those five outings.
Most recently, Kuemper stopped 20 of the 21 shots that he faced in a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks. It marked the fourth consecutive outing in which the Kings goaltender allowed just one goal.
Kuemper has really been playing at an elite level since arriving in Los Angeles. The Kings goaltender currently has the second-lowest goals-against-average (2.06) in the league behind only Winnipeg Jets star Connor Hellebuyck (1.97).
While a change of scenery doesn’t always turn the tide, it looks like Kuemper is regaining his form as he’s on a spectacular run in recent weeks.
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