Lightning’s Hagel Named NHL’s First Star of the Week – The Hockey Writers Tampa Bay Lightning Latest News, Analysis & More

The NHL announced that Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, and Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Feb. 9.

Hagel led the NHL with four goals and eight points, all at even strength, in four contests to lift the Lightning (31-20-4, 66 points) into third place in the Atlantic Division via four straight wins over division opponents. He helped Tampa Bay sweep back-to-back games versus the Ottawa Senators, one of the teams ahead of them in the Atlantic entering the week, potting the tiebreaking goal early in the third period of a 4-3 victory on Feb. 4 and scoring the game-winner (his third of 2024-25) in a 5-1 triumph Feb. 6. 

Brandon Hagel (@TBLightning), Thatcher Demko (@Canucks) and Matthew Tkachuk (@FlaPanthers) have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” presented by GEICO for the week ending Feb. 9. #NHLStats: https://t.co/aSH2iLvaTp pic.twitter.com/j39euP6O47

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 10, 2025

Hagel then registered his third career four-point performance, all of which have come this season (also Oct. 22 at the New Jersey Devils: three goals, four points and Nov. 25 vs. the Colorado Avalanche: five assists), with two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings Feb. 8. He closed the week with a pair of assists, his 16th multi-point outing of the campaign, in a 5-3 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens Feb. 9 at the Bell Centre.

Hagel will represent Canada for the first time in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament and called the opportunity “a dream come true.”

“You go up and down the list, I’m pretty excited to just get down there and meet all the guys,” he said of joining forces with the best Canadian players in the world. “There’s some pretty special players out there, some players that have done some unbelievable things in their career. I think it will be an honor just to be able to meet them and share the ice with them.”

Related: Guide to the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off

Hagel was traded to Tampa Bay by the Chicago Blackhawks with a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2024 for Boris Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh, and two conditional first-round picks on March 18, 2022. He signed an eight-year, $52 million contract ($6.5 million average annual value) with the Lightning on Aug. 22, 2023.