Breakaway on SI

Lightning Winger Named First Star of Week

The Tampa Bay Lightning head into the 4 Nation's Break on a hot streak.

Jon Alfano

Feb 1, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) controls the puck against the New York Islanders in the second period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Feb 1, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) controls the puck against the New York Islanders in the second period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
In this story:

On a team with several superstars, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel sometimes doesn't get the recognition he truly deserves.

Hagel, 26, is not only one of Tampa Bay's top scorers with 62 points on the season, trailing only reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov with 82 points, but he's an exceptional defensive player as well, being a fixture of the penalty kill. He's improved continously since joining the Lightning at the 2022 trade deadline, and is now one of the top two-way players in the league.

This week, Hagel proved why he has that claim. The sixth-year veteran scored four goals and eight points in four games - highlighted by a four-point performance against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday - and was a plus-two or better in each of those games. Most importantly, the Lightning won all four of those games against Atlantic Division rivals, giving themselves a bit of a cushion heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off.

On Monday, the NHL named Hagel as its First Star of the Week. This is the first time he has been named one of the three stars, and it's a well-deserved honor at that. Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko and Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk were the second and third stars of the week, respectively.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native had an incredibly impressive week, but in the big picture, he's on pace for another career season. He's already tied last year's total with 26 goals, and is four away from tying his career-high of 30, which he set with Tampa Bay in 2022-23. With him scoring more than a point per game, he's well on his way to being a 90-100 point player.

The Lightning took a big risk to acquire Hagel, sending two first-round picks and two prospects to the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2022. Based on what he's become, though, they'd make that trade any day of the week.

Tampa Bay, just like every other team, is off for the next two weeks. However, Hagel will be busy in that time as he represents Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, alongside Lightning teammates Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli.

Make sure you bookmark Breakaway On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Published
Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

Home/News Feed Page