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.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin continues to etch his name in the NHL history books. On Tuesday, Ovechkin scored the 767th goal of his career at the 15:02 mark of the second period against the New York Islanders. In the process, the Capitals winger passed Jaromir Jagr for third place on the league's all-time goals list.
This season, Ovechkin has scored 37 goals, which is good for fifth in the league. He has passed Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull and now Jagr on the all-time goals list. The Capitals winger passed Dionne for fifth place on the all-time list in a two-goal performance in the team's season opener, and then passed Hull in November.
Now having passed Jagr, Ovechkin can focus his attention towards catching Wayne Gretzky's all-time leading 894 goals. Entering Thursday, the Capitals star is 127 goals behind Gretzky with 23 games remaining in the regular season. Ovechkin will go down as one of the most prolific goal scores that the sport has ever seen regardless of if he passes Gretzky or not. However, passing Gretzky is certainly an attainable goal for Ovechkin.
Ovechkin signed a five-year contract extension with Washington this past offseason, so assuming he plays out the course of that deal, he'll have the opportunity to pass Gretzky barring any major injuries. The 36-year-old star feasibly can achieve passing Gretzky within the next three or so seasons if his current level of play continues.
The Capitals star is in the MVP conversation this season and currently is tied for sixth in points (73). If Ovechkin's goal-scoring prowess continues to take center stage, he could be the oldest Hart Trophy winner in league history.
The Vezina Trophy race has been one of the closest that the NHL has seen in quite some time. Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom is in the midst of a career year and is attempting to stake his claim to the honor.
In 46 games throughout the 2021-22 season, Markstrom has compiled a 28-11-6 record to go along with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage, both of which are good for third in the NHL.
Aside from an outlier performance in which he gave up five goals in a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens earlier in March, the Flames netminder has been a brick wall. Markstrom has surrendered a grand total of three goals in those four other games, including a 3-0 shutout against the Detroit Red Wings last Saturday.
In wins over the Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning, Markstrom yielded just one goal apiece. He has stopped at least 28 shots in each of those victories, which proves that he is quite battle-tested.
Markstrom has spent the past two seasons in Calgary after playing for the Vancouver Canucks for the previous seven seasons. Entering this season, Markstrom never had a campaign in which he recorded more than 28 wins, lower than a 2.63 goals-against average, higher than a .923 save percentage and more than three shutouts. The most mind-boggling statistic may be the fact that Markstrom has nine shutouts this season.
His stellar play is one of the main reasons that the Flames are currently leading the Pacific Division with just a quarter of the regular season to go.
It's been a tough season for Marc-Andre Fleury, but the veteran goaltender is attempting to turn around his level of play. Fleury had spent the previous four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights after the franchise selected him in the 2017 Expansion Draft. The three-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder enjoyed a ton of success in Vegas and even helped lead the franchise to the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season.
However, the Golden Knights traded Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks partially due to the emergence of fellow goaltender Robin Lehner. Following the trade, Fleury has had his fair share of struggles to the tune of a 19-20-5 record in addition to a 2.90 goals-against-average and a .909 save percentage. It's easily been Fleury's worst campaign since his final season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017 when his goals-against-average ballooned to 3.02 and he only registered 18 wins.
Despite this season's struggles, Fleury is coming off one of his best starts in recent memory. The 37-year-old goalie surrendered just two goals in a 2-1 overtime loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Fleury recorded a season-high 46 saves and really kept the Blackhawks in that particular contest.
It's possible that Fleury could be on the move leading up to Monday's trade deadline. The Blackhawks sit in second-to-last place in the Central Division, so it certainly doesn't make a ton of sense for the team to hold onto Fleury. If a team offers significant draft capital or prospects, it's hard to imagine Fleury not being on the move.
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi is making a tremendous impact on both ends of the ice this season. Entering Thursday, Josi has amassed 69 points (17 goals and 52 assists), which leads all NHL defensemen. In addition, the Predators blue-liner is tied for second in goals behind only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.
In seven games this month, the Predators defenseman has registered at least one point in every contest while four multi-point games during that stretch. Josi is coming off of a three-assist performance in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
In Tuesday's contest, Josi displayed just how dangerous he can be in the offensive zone. Late in the second period, Josi was able to keep the puck in the zone and tucked it back in deep to teammate Colton Sissons. Then Josi immediately glided back to the blue line ready for a pass. Sissons hit Josi with a perfect pass and Josi was able to rip a shot on net, which was tipped in by Tanner Jeannot.
Josi just has a knack for being in the right spot and he knew exactly what he wanted to do as soon as he dished the puck off to Sissons. The key play ended up being the game-winning goal for the Predators. Josi is certainly in the Norris Trophy conversation this season considering how he's produced down the stretch. The Predators defenseman has already won the award in the past as he received the hardware back in 2002 after a 65-point campaign.
