We’ve reached the end of 2025. The Tampa Bay Lightning get set for another half of the season, while also getting the chance to mentally switch gears with the coming new year. In celebration of 2026 being on our doorstep, it’s time to try something unconventional: three stars of the calendar year.
It requires looking at parts of two different seasons, along with the postseason and award seasons that were sandwiched in between. It’s a little jarring because hockey features a season that isn’t fully within a calendar year. Yet, some obvious picks emerged at the top anyway.
Let’s take a look at these three stars who unsurprisingly led the way for the Lightning in 2025. We can expect them to keep doing their thing in 2026, too. Note: All stats are as of Dec. 30, 2025, to ensure this list was released before the New Year.
Third Star: Andrei Vasilevskiy
The start of the 2025 calendar year featured the star goalie returning to form. He had started to look closer to himself in the 2024 half of last season, but after the new year was when he truly turned on the jets again.
In 59 games across this calendar year, Andrei Vasilevskiy had a save percentage of .921 while compiling a 36-17-6 record. He finished second place in the Vezina Trophy voting behind the Hart Memorial Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck.
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He’s continued to deal with some injuries, and his performance later in the calendar year has suffered at times as a result. However, his overall performance, along with the recognition from the writers, makes him good enough to get the third star.
Second Star: Jake Guentzel
Jake Guentzel is about to complete his first full calendar year wearing a Lightning sweater. He was tasked with filling the shoes of Steven Stamkos when the old went out, and the new came in during the summer of 2024.
In 85 games across 2025, he has amassed 39 goals and 43 assists for a total of 82 points. He’s averaged just under a point per game across the year and is certainly scoring goals at a rate that helps bridge the gap that could have been left by the departure of a future Hall of Famer.
He was one of the few bright spots for the team during another anemic playoff appearance back in April. In five games, he tallied three goals and three assists for six points. While other key players were being shut down by a gritty Florida Panthers team, he was doing his part with ease.
At this point, this is the last I expect to find any meaningful way to compare him to Stamkos. Since last season, his first with the team, is included in this evaluation, it felt necessary. The latter half of this season will be in a new year. The page can finally be turned, and he gets awarded the second star as we fully move on.
First Star: Nikita Kucherov
Let’s be real. Was there going to be anyone else who could have been the first star for this team? Even when you factor in a so-so playoff performance, nobody was going to swipe the top spot. If Vasilevskiy had won the Vezina, maybe he had a case to jump up.
However, the honor belongs to the 2024-25 Ted Lindsay Trophy winner, Nikita Kucherov. He took home another Art Ross Trophy to go along with being the player’s MVP of choice (as opposed to the writers’ who decide on the Hart).
Across 80 games this calendar year, he put up 54 goals and 79 assists for 133 points. There is not much more to say. He’s one of the best players in the world. He’ll likely be the first star of 2026 as well, as he was for this year and hypothetically for 2024 (had this list been done at the time).
