NHL Star Power Index: Patrick Kane makes Rangers debut, Tage Thompson continues tear

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.

One of the big storylines at the start of this season was whether the Chicago Blackhawks would trade star forward Patrick Kane. That finally came to a decision earlier this week when the Blackhawks moved Kane. to New York Rangers for a conditional 2023 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick.

Kane made his Rangers debut Thursday in a 5-3 loss to the Rangers against the Ottawa Senators. Kane failed to score a point, but recorded four shots on goal in 19:36 of playing time. He reunited with former Blackhawks teammate Artemiy Panarin as he skated on the second line for the Rangers with Panarin and center Vincent Trochek.

“My first Ranger game was pretty interesting. Kane said after the defeat. “Of course I would like to play a little better and come out with a win. But hopefully it will happen. I didn’t play a bit. Maybe a little rusty.”

Prior to his arrival in New York, Kane played one of his best hockey seasons. On Thursday, Kane scored a four-point streak and scored seven goals during that stretch. During his last game with the Blackhawks, the 34-year-old star scored a pair of goals and provided an assist in a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars on February 22.

In anticipation of the impending trade, Kane left the team’s business trip and sat out until the trade became official on Tuesday.

The Rangers are now in a very strong position after the trade deadline. The team was able to acquire both Vladimir Tarasenko and Kane without parting with any of their young core Philip Chitil, Kaapok Kaako or Alexis Lafrenière. In a seven-game playoff series, there will be very few teams that can slow down an attacking group that is this deep.

The Buffalo Sabers haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010-2011 campaign, but Tage Thompson is almost single-handedly trying to change the fortunes of the franchise. Entering Friday, the Sabers are currently only four points behind Wild Card’s second seed in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. The team has won three of their last five games, and Thompson’s stellar performance has been the reason for the recent surge.

Thompson has scored in seven of his last eight games and has scored at least one goal in three of his last five games. The Sabers star has scored five goals and three assists in the past five games, including a hat-trick in a 6-5 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning last Thursday.

It marked Thompson’s fourth NHL hat-trick of the season.

As if the hat-trick performance wasn’t impressive enough, Thompson scored each in back-to-back games against the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets.

It may be just 60 games, but the 25-year-old star has already amassed a new career high (80) with 41 goals and 39 assists. This comes after Thompson scored 68 (38 assists, 30 points) in 78 games last season.

Thompson was expected to be a star, but not one of the biggest in the league in such a short time. Now the Sabers center is one of the most gifted scorers in the sport, and he continues to demonstrate that ability every night.

As the 2022-2023 season progresses, it’s hard to see the Vezina Trophy talk as anything more than a one-horse race. This is because Linus Ulmark is currently preparing a season for the ages.

Ulmark leads the league in wins (31), goals against average (1.88) and save percentage (.938). In addition, Ullmark added another standout to his long list of honors with a career-high 54 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Ullmark’s 54 saves were the most in a regular season game by a Bruins goaltender since goaltending began tracking during the 1955-56 campaign. His 54 saves surpassed the previous regular season franchise record of 51, which was set by Tim Thomas in 2007.

Oh, and Ullmark even made it to the top last week. He became the first goaltender in franchise history to score a goal, and the first NHL goaltender to accomplish the feat since Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne on January 9, 2020. Pay attention to the highlight: