Welcome to NHL Star Power Index: A weekly measure of the players making big splashes around the league. If a player is included 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 are in no particular order when it comes to how much buzz they generate. We will review the Star Power Index every week during the regular season.
The Chicago Blackhawks may have a worst 30 points in the NHL this season, but that hasn't stopped the phenomenon Connor Bedard from dominating on the ice.
Bedard extended his career-high streak to eight games in a row with a 3-1 win against the Colorado avalanche on Wednesday. The Blackhawks star had a goal and an assist while scoring a game-winning goal in the third period to put the contest out of reach.
Bedard became just the fourth teenager in franchise history to have an eight-game point streak when he joined Jonathan Toews (2007-08), Eddie Olczyk (1985-86) and Bobby Hull (1957-58).
Bedard extended his points streak in the opening stages of Wednesday's game when he set up a goal from his teammate Ilya Mikheev.
At the 16:48 mark of the first period was the Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard tried to clear the puck from the corner. However, Bedard was able to block the pass with his active stick, and Mikheyev was able to get the puck past the Avalanche goalie's blocker Trent Miner to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.
The assist was the 65th of Bedard's career and tied with the franchise icon Patrick Kane for the second-most assists by a teenager in team history, behind only Olczyk (80).
With the Blackhawks defending a 2-1 lead in the third period, Bedard made it to the net thanks to some great passes from his teammates. At 11:54 of the final period it was the defender Seth Jones sent the puck forward Tyler Bertuzzi in the neutral zone, and Bertuzzi handed it off to a swelling Bedard. The talented 19-year-old came in and fired a snap shot past Miner to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.
Bedard has scored four goals and seven assists in his eight-game points streak and has one assist in six of those games. The Blackhawks' young star currently leads the team in points (37) and assists (26) midway through the season.
The Blackhawks are in the midst of a rebuild, but Bedard certainly makes the future look extremely bright. After winning the Calder Trophy as NHL's Bedard, who was the top rookie a year ago, is on pace to score 74 points this season, which would significantly surpass his rookie season.
Star forward for the Colorado Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon is taking the NHL by storm in the battle for the points lead. Teammate though Mikko Rantanen is also in the running for one of the NHL's top honors in the first half of the season.
Rantanen is currently tied for second in goals (25), while he is only behind MacKinnon (68) and third in the league in points (60). Leon Draisaitl (61). The Avalanche winger has scored 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 penalty shootout loss to Colorado Montreal Canadiens on January 4th.
Midway through the opening period, Rantanen benefited from a great pass from MacKinnon. With the Avalanche on the power play, defender Cale Makar threw the puck to MacKinnon, who eventually skated to the edge of the faceoff circle before dishing out a great pass that Rantanen converted for an easy goal.
Rantanen's goal gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at that point.
The Avalanche star has surpassed the 40-goal mark in each of the last two seasons. Rantanen is definitely within Draisaitl's reach for the Rocket Richard Trophy as he is the league's goals leader considering he has scored 48 goals 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 MacKinnon, one of the NHL's most talented playmakers. With this feather in his cap, Rantanen's shots on goal have been commonplace in recent seasons.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are making a playoff push after missing the postseason in each of the last two seasons. Experienced defender Erik Karlsson does his best to get the Penguins over the finish line.
Karlsson currently ranks eighth among NHL defensemen in points (31) and is also eighth in assists (27) as of Friday. The Penguins blueliner has recorded at least one point in four of his last five games and has five assists in that span.
In Thursday's 5-3 win against the Edmonton OilersKarlsson's offensive prowess led to a late insurance goal for the Penguins.
At 5:42 of the second period, Karlsson received the puck at the blue line and fired a shot that narrowly missed the cage into the net. However, the puck bounced off the boards behind the net and straight forward Michael Bunting. Bunting then found an opening Sidney Crosby left of the Oilers net and Crosby didn't miss the 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 when they acquired Karlsson in a trade with the Penguins San Jose Sharks. Karlsson brings a wealth of offensive acumen and has no problem putting the puck in the net when the opportunity arises. Although Karlsson didn't get a spot in the primary for the piece, he helped make it happen.
The Penguins probably won't get another 25-goal season from Karlsson, but his ability to score from the blue line is something the opposing team will always need to defend. Karlsson should prove to be one of Pittsburgh's top assets as it heads toward a playoff spot this season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy Last season he posted a 2.90 goals against average and a .900 save percentage, and those aren't the numbers the hockey world is used to seeing from the veteran goaltender. However, Vasilevskiy has definitely found his ability to defend the goal area this season.
Vasilevskiy currently has a record of 18-12-1, along with a 2.36 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. The Tampa Bay Lightning Netminder has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his last five games.
Most recently, Vasilevskiy saved 27 of the 28 shots he faced in the 4-1 win against Ukraine 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 game.
Thursday's win marked the 311th victory of Vasilevskiy's career and allowed him to overtake former Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars Goaltender Kari Lehtonen ranks eighth among goaltenders born outside of North America in NHL history.
Vasilevskiy has played extremely well since the calendar switched 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 stage of his NHL career. According to MoneyPuck, the Russian goaltender has a .958 save percentage on unblocked shots this season. If they can come close to matching that kind of production, it's hard to imagine the Lightning missing out on one of the Atlantic Division's top three playoff spots.
