NHL Star Power Index: Nathan MacKinnon continues to score, Dmitry Orlov thrives in new home

Welcome to the NHL Star Power Index, a weekly ranking of the players who make a significant impact in the league. When a player is included on this list, it may not be a good thing – it means he gets a lot of attention from the hockey world.

These players are not in any particular order when it comes to the amount of hype they create. We will be reviewing the Star Power Index every week during the regular season.

In a season full of injuries for the Colorado Avalanche, Nathan McKinnon has proven to be one of the true regulars for the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog and even McKinnon himself have missed significant time, but McKinnon has been on a roll in recent weeks.

In fact, McKinnon has scored goals in seven of his last eight games for the team. In four of those eight matches, he has landed at least six shots on goal. McKinnon scored a goal and provided an assist in the Avalanche’s 6-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

McKinnon also earned a minor assist on a Nichushkin goal in the second period.

The two-point scoring is just the latest in a series of multi-point games for the Avalanche center. McKinnon has recorded multi-point games in eight of his last 12 contests and has also scored four goals in his last four games. McKinnon is gaining momentum at just the right time as the Avalanche climbed to third place in the playoffs in the Central Division after spending most of the season as a Wild Card contender.

The Boston Bruins made several big moves at the trade deadline, including one for Dmitry Orlov. From the moment he arrived in Boston, he proved to be a huge source of offensive output. In four games over the past week, Orlov scored three goals and six assists. The veteran guard has scored several points in four of his five games since he was traded to the Bruins.

His final performance came when he scored a goal and provided two assists in the Bruins’ 7-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. At the same time, Orlov helped the Bruins. become the fastest team in NHL history to score 100 points in the season.

After scoring nine points in his first five games with the Bruins, Orlov joined some very elite company. The only two defensemen in NHL history to score more points in their first five games with a new team were Harry Cameron (15 points, Toronto Arenas, 1917-18) and Paul Coffey (10 points, Detroit Red Wings, 1992-93).

The Bruins were already a force to be reckoned with with goaltender Linus Ullmark being a brick wall throughout the 2022–23 season. Now, however, Orlov is helping form an extremely talented top defensive pairing with Charlie McAvoy and has really stabilized the team’s blue line.

If Orlov can continue to show attack at a level close to this, the Bruins could become even more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.

Jared McCann played for three NHL franchises before being drafted by the Seattle Craken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. He found a home. For the second consecutive season, McCann has scored at least 50 points after his previous six campaigns with the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Vancouver Canucks had no such seasons.

McCann, 26, is on a roll now, having scored in four of his last five games and has three big points in that time.

With his last two-point performance in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, McCann made history by becoming the first Kraken player to score 100 career points with the team. This helped the Kraken to win the fifth consecutive victory.

McCann is currently averaging 67 (42+25) points in 2022/23. This will surpass his previous record of 50 points, which he set just last season.

The Kraken continue to advance into the postseason and McCann’s stellar top-line goalscoring ability has been a huge reason for the team’s success.

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