NHL Star Power Index: Artturi Lehkonen scoring at will, Jack Eichel displaying incredible playmaking skills

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.

Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen had offseason shoulder surgery, and missed the start of the season. Despite missing the first month of the campaign, Lehkonen has showcased that he’s still capable of putting the puck at the net at a strong rate.

Lehkonen has tallied four goals in his last three games, including a hat trick in a 4-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Dec. 27. It was just the latest in a strong December for Lehkonen, who added a goal against the Jets on New Year’s Eve to run his total to 10 for the month.

Lehkonen’s hat trick was his first since entering the league in 2016-17 with the Montreal Canadiens. It was also the second multi-goal game of the season for the native of Finland.

In Friday’s game against the Utah, Lehkonen got the Avalanche into the scoring column in the second period. Colorado defenseman Sam Malinski carried the puck into the offensive zone before flipping it off to star forward Nathan MacKinnon in the face-off circle, and MacKinnon displayed his tremendous vision to set up Lehkonen’s goal. MacKinnon skated with the puck, slid it right across the slot, and Lehkonen was able to tap the puck in for an easy goal.

After the Utah Hockey Club tied the game early in the third period, Lehkonen managed to put the Avs right back in front. At the 14:44 mark of the third period, forward Valeri Nichushkin threw a puck in front that Lehkonen attempted to put past goaltender Karel Vejmelka, but was initially stopped. However, Lehkonen was able to deposit his own rebound into the back of the net to give the Avalanche a 2-1.

Since being traded to Colorado in March 2022, Lehkonen has proved to be an integral of the Avalanche’s offensive attack, including helping the franchise win the Stanley Cup. 

Despite missing the opening month of the season, the 29-year old is currently on pace to score 44 goals, which would be a career-best. The 2022-23 season was the only time that Lehkonen topped the 20-goal mark, so this campaign could prove to be a very special one for the Finnish forward.

Center Jack Eichel was one of the unsung heroes that helped lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup in 2023. Even with that lofty accomplishment, Eichel might be playing the best hockey of his professional career right now.

Eichel has been an assists machine lately as he leads the team with 40 on the season, while also leading Vegas in points (50). The veteran forward has dished the puck well in the last six games, where he has record seven assists and at least one in each of the last five.

In Thursday’s 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Eichel picked up a pair of assists.

After the Flyers turned the puck over in the Golden Knights zone, Eichel received the puck and began to take it up the ice. After entering the offensive zone, Eichel patiently stick-handled the puck, and threw a backhanded shot on net that teammate Mark Stone was able to redirect for a goal.

Eichel also added a secondary assist on Tanner Pearson’s empty-net goal in the final minute of the third period.

The Golden Knights star currently on pace for 86 assists on the season, and that would far exceed his previous career-best (54) that he set as a member of the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19.

The Golden Knights don’t need Eichel to score 40 goals every season due to the fact that the team possesses a deep stable of goal scorers such as Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone, and Tomas Hertl. Instead, Eichel has been an excellent facilitator for an offensive unit that is averaging 3.55 goals per contest, which is tied for third in the NHL. 

The list is endless when it comes to the abundance of offensive firepower that exists on the Edmonton Oilers roster. Still, one of the team’s top offensive producers has been on the blue line this season.

Defenseman Evan Bouchard currently ranks third on the team in points (28) and assists (21), while logging a team-high 23:38 of ice time on a nightly basis. Bouchard has tallied a goal and two assists in his last three games, and even registered a goal across that span.

In Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, Bouchard was able to make an impact on both ends of the ice.

Midway through the opening period, Ducks forward Brett Leason was bringing the puck into the offensive zone when Bouchard was able to swipe the puck away. The Oilers displayed terrific puck movement down the ice. Forward Viktor Arvidsson, who had just came out of the penalty box, flipped the puck over to Bouchard, who ripped a snap shot past Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal to give the Oilers an early 2-0 lead.

Bouchard also recorded a secondary assist on Leon Draisaitl’s power-play goal that opened the scoring in the first period. The veteran defenseman has now tallied an assist in each of his last two games.

On a team that also features talented forward like Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it’s extremely impressive to see Bouchard being one of the team’s top offensive producers this season. Bouchard continues to be sensational on both ends of the ice, which is huge for an Oilers team that is looking to make another Stanley Cup run.

The New Jersey Devils have been in dire need of a franchise goaltender for several seasons. Finally, the team landed one in an offseason trade with the Calgary Flames as Jacob Markstrom made his way to the Garden State.

After an average start to the season, Markstrom has really been hitting his stride.

Markstrom has tallied a 3-1-0 record, a 1.25 goals-against-average, and a .938 save percentage in his last four games. Over that span, the veteran netminder has registered two shutouts against the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, respectively.

In a 4-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 27, Markstrom had another strong performance in which he stopped 29 of the 31 shots that he faced. Markstrom stopped seven shots in the final period when the game was hanging in the balance.

While Markstrom has been hot of late, it capped off an incredible December for the goalie where he posted an 8-1-0 record with a .937 save percentage.

The Devils are right at the top of the Metropolitan Division, and Markstrom’s performance in goal has had a lot to do with the team’s overall success.