Boston's Dmitry Orlov, Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl and Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky were at the top of their game last week.
Boston's Dmitry Orlov, Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl and Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky were at the top of their game last week.
You’re reading THN.com’s three stars of the week – a regular feature in which we identify the NHL’s top three performers since last Sunday. Let’s get straight to it:
3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
It has been a rollercoaster of a season for Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers, but the veteran goaltender was sharp this week.
Bobrovsky put up a 2-1-0 record, as well as a 1.35 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in three games. Bobrovsky’s early-season struggles are keeping down his total stats – including a 19-17-2 record, 2.98 GAA and .906 SP in 41 appearances – but the playoff-periphery Panthers desperately need him to play well enough to stay in the post-season race.
Clearly, the Panthers, if they had a chance to change their roster’s history, wouldn’t be paying the 34-year-old Bobrovsky $10 million per year through the 2025-26 season. But that’s the deal they made with him, and while an eventual buyout seems to be the ultimate destiny for Bobrovsky’s contract, Florida will only have a shot at making the playoffs if Bobrovsky holds the fort as well as he did this past week.
Bobrovsky has shown he can still contribute high-quality netminding, but it’s all about consistency for him the rest of the way this year. The pressure is squarely on him.
2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton
Like his fellow Oilers superstar forward Connor McDavid, Draisaitl had another excellent week, posting five goals – two at even-strength and three on the power play – and eight points in four games.
Draisaitl is on an impressive 12-game point streak in which he’s generated 12 goals and 20 points. On Saturday against Winnipeg, the 27-year-old German native was a one-man gang, scoring a hat trick to boost his goal total this season to 41 goals and 96 points in 62 games.
Draisaitl’s assist numbers are also elite: he’s equalled his 55-assist output from last season, and he’s on pace to beat his career highs of 67 assists and 110 points.
McDavid deservedly gets much of the spotlight in Edmonton – and we could probably justify McDavid being one of the league’s three stars each and every week – but Draisaitl is a phenom all his own. He makes opposing goalies look ordinary, and he’s in his prime.
The Oilers, with their continuing struggles on defense, need Draisaitl to be just as effective down the stretch and into the post-season. And he’s capable of meeting that need.
1. Dmitry Orlov, Boston
After being acquired from Washington on Feb. 23, Orlov has thrived on the Bruins’ blueline, leading the team this week in assists (six) and points (nine) while averaging 22:18 of ice time.
The 31-year-old Russian defenseman has 22 assists and 28 points in 48 games this season, and if he stays as hot as he is now, Orlov will improve on his current career highs of 27 assists and 35 points.
The Bruins are a vastly improved team with Orlov on board, but Orlov’s individual numbers will improve by playing on a deep Boston team. He doesn’t have to register more minutes than any other B's defenseman, and he can use his offensive skills to give the Bruins an even more dangerous attack than they had before Washington traded him to Boston.
Orlov is scheduled to be a UFA at the end of the season, and the better he plays with the Bruins, the bigger raise he will get on his current $5.1-million annual salary.