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.
When it comes to star power in the NHL, the conversation can't be started without mentioning Connor McDavid.
Entering Thursday, McDavid leads the NHL in points (77) and has been enjoying a masterful season. Over his last four games, the Edmonton Oilers star has registered three goals and three assists, including three multi-point outings.
During Edmonton's most recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, McDavid's playmaking ability was on full display.
In the 3-0 Oilers victory, McDavis accumulated a goal and an assist against a struggling Flyers team. McDavid assisted on teammate Leon Draisaitl's goal to open the game as the Oilers scored on the power play while adding an empty-netter late in the contest.
McDavid also had two-point performances against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning -- two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously, McDavid is a tremendous goal scorer and we've seen it on display throughout the season. However, his vision and playmaking ability are unmatched in the league.
McDavid's 48 assists are second in the league behind only Panthers star Jonathan Huberdeau. The Oilers center sees the ice so well and has no problem dishing the puck off to his teammates instead of weaving his way through the defense.
With McDavid anchoring the Oilers' power-play unit, it's no wonder that they're converting 26.3 percent of their opportunities, which is good for third in the NHL. If McDavid can continue to help the Oilers score on the man-advantage, Edmonton could be a very tough out when the Stanley Cup playoffs roll around.
It's fair to say that no one across the NHL had a better week than Mitchell Marner.
In his last four games, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger racked up four goals and seven assists and is absolutely on fire. What's even more impressive is the fact that Marner recorded six of those 11 points in one single game.
In a 10-7 win (yes, you read that correctly) over the Detroit Red Wings, Marner scored four goals and dished out a pair of assists in one of the best individual games in the NHL this season. It also turned out to be Marner's first career hat trick, which is very surprising considering that he's currently in his sixth NHL season.
The old saying goes: when you're on, you're on. Marner ended up scoring his four goals on six shot attempts. In fact, the 24-year old scored three of his four goals over a nine-minute stretch to start off the second period.
The Maple Leafs forward was the beneficiary of some tremendous passes and bounces. For example, Marner's fourth goal was probably the easiest one that he's scored during his entire hockey career. Teammate Michael Bunting had a breakaway opportunity late in the third period, but had a defender breathing down his neck. Instead of forcing a shot, Bunting dropped the pass off to Marner, who just had to tuck the puck into the wide-open net.
The Maple Leafs are a team that possess so many playmakers. However, if Marner consistently provides offensive firepower even close to his four-goal performance, Toronto is going to be one of the most dangerous teams come playoff time.
The Boston Bruins goaltending situation has certainly been an interesting one this season.
The 2021-22 campaign started off with rookie Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark splitting time between the pipes. In January, Tuukka Rask came out of retirement and briefly returned to the team for about a month before retiring once again.
Since then, Swayman has established himself as one of the top goaltenders around the NHL.
In eight during the month of February, the 23-year old netminder has put together a 5-1 record to go along with a 1.13 goals-against-average and a .960 save percentage. Swayman also has surrendered just two goals in his last three starts and eight goals in his seven February starts.
Most recently, Swayman recorded a shutout against the Los Angeles Kings in a 7-0 Bruins win on Monday. The Bruins goaltender turned aside all 34 shots that he faced.
In addition, Swayman was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month earlier this week for his recent efforts.
Swayman has arguably been the NHL's top goalie over the last month. If his stellar level of play continues, the Calder Trophy may not be out of Swayman's grasp when the dust settles this season.
The Colorado Avalanche may been absolutely on fire as of late and Mikko Rantanen's unselfish play has really been the reason why.
In four games over the last week, Rantanen has recorded six assists to pace an Avalanche team that has won four consecutive contests. Rantanen has recorded multi-assist performances in two of those four contests, including a three-assist showing in a 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets this past Friday.
In that win over the Jets, Rantanen displayed tremendous ice vision and patience. On his first assist of the night, Rantanen received the puck in the face-off circle, waited for the play to develop, and passed it off to teammate Gabriel Landeskog who was able to beat Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck
Rantanen is currently 13th in the league in assists (39) and accumulated nine of those in February.
It's not surprising that the Avalanche possess the most points in the entire league (84) considering the amount of scoring depth that they have. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, and Rantanen offer one of the most dangerous offensive assemblies of talent across the NHL.
