Adam Proteau breaks down the three NHL stars of the week, including another appearance by an Oiler, all Hart in Philadelphia and a captain's performance. This is THN.com’s three stars of the week, a regular feature in which we look back at the past seven days of NHL hockey and identify which individual players shone the brightest. Let’s get straight to it.
3. NICK SUZUKI, MONTREAL The Canadiens’ star forward finished the week tied for the NHL lead in points, with eight in three games. Now in his fourth NHL season, Suzuki has equalled his career high in points, with 61 in 73 games. The 23-year-old needed a full 82 games to reach that level last season, making it all but a certainty he’ll set a new personal best in the final stretch of the current season. Suzuki’s 23 goals this year are a new career high, and as he continues to blossom as a thrilling young offensive dynamo, he’ll most likely continue raising his game in some shape or form year after year. He’s an essential component of Montreal’s long rebuild, but he’s showing Canadiens fans he’s worth all the accolades coming his way. Suzuki is nowhere near his prime yet, and that has to give Habs fans a solid foundation for hope for the team’s future. 2. CARTER HART, PHILADELPHIA The Flyers haven’t had much to cheer about this season, but the performance of starting goaltender Hart this week was good for morale. In three games played, Hart went 3-0-0, with one shutout, a .928 save percentage, and a 2.27 goals-against average. Hart is now on a four-game win streak, but his individual season statistics (including a 2.90 G.A.A. and .909 SP) are a reflection of the team in front of them as much as they are an indictment of him as a goalie. The 24-year-old Albertan has already made 52 appearances for Philadelphia this year, seven games more than his previous career high of 45, set last season. Hart is under contract through next season at a $3.9 million salary cap hit; he becomes an RFA in the summer of 2024. While he’s central to any hope Philly has of winning games at this point, by the time next season ends, Hart may be traded as the Flyers dig deeper into a long-term roster rebuild. All Hart can do is try to thrive despite the flaws of the team he’s playing behind, and in the past week, he’s done exactly that. 1. LEON DRAISAITL, EDMONTON It was only a few weeks ago that we honoured Draisaitl with the second star of the week, but he’s been even better of late, generating seven assists and eight points in only three games this week. Five of Draisaitl’s assists came at even strength, and the 27-year-old German has posted 36 points in his past 21 games. He also has 16 points in a current eight-game point streak, and he’s averaging 23:23 of ice time in the past week. In 71 games this season, Draisaitl has put up 67 assists – tying his career high set in the 2019-20 campaign – and a new career high of 112 points. He’s also set a new personal best in power-play goals, with 28. It certainly helps that he’s playing alongside the sport’s top player in Connor McDavid, but Draisaitl is an awesome threat all on his own. With an average cap hit of $8.5 million for this season and the next two seasons, Draisaitl is proving to be one of the NHL’s best values. He and McDavid want to be regarded for playoff successes, and that’s fair. But the pair are the league’s most electric duo, and it’s also OK to recognise them for their regular-season dominance.
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