Blueshirts Breakaway Selects the All-Star Rosters

[text_output]The NHL released the official rosters for the 2018 All-Star game earlier this month, and as always there were some interesting selections that have the various fanbases buzzing. Two of our writers, Drew Way and Shawn Taggart, both have some strong takes on the roster selections, and they share their personal picks and thought processes below. Drew and Shawn both stuck to the eligibility requirements implemented by the NHL: east team must have at least one representative, and each division’s roster must consist of exactly six forwards, three defenseman and two goalies. And yes, if a player from your team was left off that you felt was deserving of a spot, it was most certainly because Drew and/or Shawn hate your team.

*Note – This article was written before the Charlie McAvoy injury news[/text_output][custom_headline type=”left” level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”true” id=”” class=”” style=””]Metropolitan Division[/custom_headline][text_output]Drew:

F – John Tavares – NYI
F – Alex Ovechkin – WSH
F – Taylor Hall – NJD
F – Sean Couturier – PHI
F – Sidney Crosby – PIT
F – Claude Giroux – PHI
D – Noah Hanifin – CAR
D – Seth Jones – CBJ
D – John Carlson – WSH
G – Henrik Lundqvist – NYR
G – Sergei Bobrovsky – CBJ

The Metropolitan Division was not easy for me to select. The division is loaded with deserving forwards, and very much lacks defenseman that jump off the page as all-stars. For me, the no-brainers that don’t even warrant a full explanation here were Henrik Lundqvist, Sergei Bobrovsky, Alex Ovechkin, Taylor Hall, John Tavares and Seth Jones. All of these players have had fantastic seasons, are clearly among the most valuable players on their teams, and have been flat out better than their divisional peers to this point in the season.

This leaves me with three forward spots and two defensive spots to fill, and I still need to find a representative from Carolina, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Since Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both have numerous deserving forwards (Giroux, Couturier, Voracek, Crosby, Malkin and Kessel), I decided I had to go defense with Carolina, and when you look at both the standard and advanced metrics, Noah Hanifin is the obvious choice. I definitely stressed a bit over who to choose from Pittsburgh and Philly, as there truly are strong arguments for each of the six guys I named. Long story short, despite Kessel leading the Penguins in points, his advanced metrics don’t even come close to measuring with Crosby, so I’m going Crosby from Pittsburgh. With Philadelphia it was much closer, but I ended up giving Couturier the slight edge because of his slightly better 5v5 performance and he has the advantage over Giroux in primary points across all strengths.

With all my team requirements fulfilled, I am left with one forward and one defense spot left. It really is relatively slim pickings for a defensive representative compared to some of the other divisions, but I went with John Carlson thanks to his point production and the fact that among defenseman, he leads the Capitals, whom currently sit atop the Metro, in most 5v5 relative advanced metrics. For the last forward spot, I agonized over the choice between Kessel, Malkin, Giroux, Voracek and Artemi Panarin from Columbus. I threw all of the names into a Corsica sheet, looked at all the numbers across various game states, and came to the conculsion that there really was no wrong decision. That said, I gave the final nod to Claude Giroux, as he has very strong advanced metrics and currently sits second in the entire league in total points.[/text_output][image type=”thumbnail” float=”none” src=”1077″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Shawn:

F – Alex Ovechkin – WSH
F – Taylor Hall – NJD
F –  Sean Courtier – PHI
F – Phil Kessel – PIT
F – Claude Giroux – PHI
F – John Tavares – NYI
D – Noah Hanifin – CAR
D – John Carlson – WSH
D – Seth Jones – CBJ
G – Sergei Bobrovsky – CBJ
G – Henrik Lundqvist – NYR

Sometimes it’s hard to look at the conference your team plays in and wonder who deserves to be a part of this team, that wasn’t named Henrik Lundqvist. Looking at this division up and down its amazing to just see how deep the talent is in this and the Central Division. While looking for more Rangers talent to make the roster and one could argue for Zibanejad, the correct answer is just one in Lundqvist.

Crosby versus Kessel was another thing to look at. While Crosby’s 5v5 stats are far sexier than Kessel’s and just the overall look of Crosby is far sexier, Kessel has been having himself a year and to lose out to a spot on the team due to a “household” name like Crosby is a shame.

I also had a tough time to justify my Bobrovsky versus Holtby pick for the game. Both have had great seasons, both have played extremely well for their team. The underlying metrics are similar for the two but Bobrovsky is just a step ahead and has carried his team more so than Holtby this year.

I didn’t get the Josh Bailey add, when Sean Courtier is having a better statistical season, most importantly a better in all aspects of the game. If I had to pick an Islander to replace Bailey, it would’ve been Anders Lee but I like Courtier more.[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”1928″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][custom_headline type=”left” level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”true” id=”” class=”” style=””]Atlantic Division[/custom_headline][text_output]Drew: 

F – Nikita Kucherov (TBL)
F – Brad Marchand (BOS)
F – Auston Matthews (TOR)
F – Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA)
F – Steven Stamkos (TBL)
F – Jack Eichel (BUF)
D – Erik Karlsson (OTT)
D – Victor Hedman* (TBL)
D – Mike Green (DET)
G – Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL)
G – Carey Price (MTL)
*Injury replacement for Hedman is Charlie McAvoy – BOS

The Atlantic Division was even more difficult for me to select than the Metro, largely thanks to the fact that the rules state each team needs a representative, and the Atlantic has multiple teams undeserving of a single representative. My locks to make the squad from the Atlantic include Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jack Eichel and Erik Karlsson. The four Lightning players have all had phenomenal seasons, well-worthy of all-star bids, while Eichel and Karlsson have also had very good seasons and are just the only logical choice from their respective teams.

Since Hedman is injured, he will need to be replaced, leaving me with three forward, two defensive and one goalie spot to fill, and needing representatives from Boston, Toronto, Florida, Detroit and Montreal. Montreal and Detroit were both cases where I do not feel anyone truly deserves a spot, but rules are rules so you have to pick someone. For both teams I considered a number of options, but to make a long story short, thanks to the positional requirements that need to be fulfilled, I went with Mike Green and Carey Price. I particularly do not feel good about Price, but I just couldn’t rationalize sending anyone else and therefor having to leave another Atlantic skater off the list. From Boston, I very much love Patrice Bergeron, and he’s having another great year, but Brad Marchand once again is having a fantastic season, so I went with him. Similarly, with Toronto, despite Auston Matthews’ missed games, I still felt he has just flat out had the best season for Toronto thus far.

I am now down to two positions left: an injury replacement for Victor Hedman and a forward slot, and I still need a representative from Florida. I put a ton of thought into both of these selections, and ended up choosing to go with Jonathan Huberdeau from Florida and Charlie McAvoy as the injury replacement for Hedman. I think Aleksander Barkov is unquestionably a better player than Huberdeau, and is among the most underrated players in the league. That said, when you just look at who is having the better season, Huberdeau comes out on top, as has more primary points at both 5v5 and all game states, and he has posted most impressive relative metrics, including Corsi, goal differential and expected goals. As for McAvoy, I just felt that with the tremendous season Boston is having, they deserve another representative, and McAvoy has been their most impressive defensive to this point in the season.[/text_output][image type=”thumbnail” float=”none” src=”1930″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Shawn: 

F –  Steven Stamkos – TBL
F – Nikita Kucherov – TBL
F – Jack Eichel – BUF
F –  Brad Marchand – BOS
F – Auston Matthews – TOR
F – Aleksander Barkov – FLA
D – Mike Green – DET
D – Erik Karlsson – OTT
D – Charlie McAvoy – BOS
G – Carey Price – MTL
G – Andrei Vasilveskiy – TBL

I get why there were four picks for the Lightning, they’re the team that’s hosting the All-Star game, so let’s represent. To say that McAvoy doesn’t deserve to be in there, is crazy in my eyes. I get what Hedman adds to the table and he’s a fine defenseman in his own right. McAvoy has proven since he came into the league during the playoffs, that he has a lot he can offer, and can be the defenseman of the future for the Bruins.

Carey Price is the best player this year on a very sad, and embarrassing Montreal team. There is no one else on that team that I would chose over Price, it’s a shame because not even he deserves to be in the game. Tuukka Rask deserves being in the game just because of how well he has played for Boston, as they are slowly creeping in closer to Tampa. A lot of it has to do with the play of Rask, always keeping them in there.[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”1931″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][custom_headline type=”left” level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”true” id=”” class=”” style=””]Pacific Division[/custom_headline][text_output]Drew:

F – Jonathan Marchessault – VGK
F – Johnny Gaudreau – CGY
F – Anze Kopitar – LAK
F – Connor McDavid – EDM
F – Brock Boeser – VAN
F – William Karlsson – VGK
D – Brent Burns – SJS
D – Oliver Ekman-Larsson – ARZ
D – Drew Doughty – LAK
G – John Gibson – ANA
G – Marc-Andre Fleury – VGK

The biggest shock of the year is easily the fact that, at the time of writing this, the Vegas Golden Knights currently have the most points in the entire NHL. Wanting to award them for their stellar play led to some interesting selections compared to what you’d think based off of the name value of some of the stars in this division. Be that as it may, my Pacific Division all-star locks included: Jonathan Marchessault, Johnny Gaudreau, Anze Kopitar, Connor McDavid, Brock Boeser, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty. With all due respect to my friend Shawn, I think that easily the worst decision the NHL made in the real rosters was leaving Marchessault off for Neal. All of the other names in my locks speak for themselves, as each player is having a fantastic season and plays an unquestionably vital role for their team.

This leaves me with only one forward, one defensive and two goalie spots left to be filled, and needing representatives from Anaheim and Arizona. Arizona is another team, like Montreal and Detroit, that do not have anyone truly deserving of an all-star spot, but we have to choose someone, so give me Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Because of this choice, my D spots are filled, leaving me with an option at forward or goalie for Anaheim. The NHL went with Rickard Rakell, who has had a fine season, but I’m going with John Gibson, whom played a critical role in keeping his team afloat through the litany of injuries they dealt with early on.

For the final goalie spot, I’m going with Marc Andre-Fleury; Mike Smith warranted strong consideration from me, but Fleury has easily been among the best goaltenders in the NHL over the period he has been healthy for, and I just feel Vegas is deserving of three representatives given their unprecedented success for an expansion team. Speaking of which, the final forward roster spot goes to William Karlsson, who leads the Golden Knights in goals and is second to only Marchessault in primary points.[/text_output][image type=”thumbnail” float=”none” src=”1933″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Shawn:

F – William Karlsson, VGK
F – Anze Kopitar, LAK
F – Johnny Gaudreau – CAL
F – Connor McDavid – EDM
F – Brock Boeser – VAN
F – James Neal – VGK
D – Brent Burns – SJS
D – Oliver Ekman-Larsson – ARI
D – Drew Doughty – LAK
G – Marc-Andre Fleury – VGK
G – John Gibson – ANA

For me, William Karlsson has probably been the best forward in the Western Conference this year. He has shown that he had the tools to become a complete player and right now you’re seeing Columbus struggle to find some sort of secondary scoring. Having Karlsson playing on a more score-first line has helped his rise and the list of impressive forwards on Vegas this year has been impressive. Just looking at what Karlsson has done though, has put himself at the forfront for a lot of discussion as the next set of stars in the league.

John Gibson getting snubbed, so we could see Jonathan Quick is another surprise to me. Looking at what Gibson has done with a very shorthanded Ducks team to start the season and still helping them stay in contention for a playoff spot has to mean something with the fans who were doing the voting? Guess not. Gibson finally looks like a goaltender that can lead the Ducks to that next step, something the Ducks have eagerly been waiting for, for some time.

Also, the first-place team in the division should have 3 representatives in the all-star game. Which makes me stick with the James Neal pick.[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”1934″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output][/text_output][custom_headline type=”left” level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”true” id=”” class=”” style=””]Central Division[/custom_headline][text_output]Drew:

F – Blake Wheeler – WPG
F – Nathan MacKinnon – COL
F – Eric Staal – MIN
F – Patrick Kane – CHI
F – Vladimir Tarasenko – STL
F – Brayden Schenn – STL
D – P.K. Subban – NSH
D – John Klingberg – DAL
D – Alex Pietrangelo – STL
G – Pekka Rinne – NSH
G – Corey Crawford* – CHI
*Injury replacement – Connor Hellebuyck – WPG

Top to bottom, the central division has been every bit as good as the Metro this year, and has featured some surprising performances from teams surpassing expectations and underachieving. No team has clearly run away with the division, making it more difficult to award a team or two in the manner I did with Vegas or Tampa Bay earlier. With that said, here are my locks: Blake Wheeler, Nathan MacKinnon, Eric Staal, Patrick Kane, P.K. Subban, John Klinberg and Pekka Rinne.

These leaves me with two forward, one defensive and one goalie spot to fill, and needing representatives from only St. Louis. I really spent a lot of time comparing Vladimir Tarasenko and Brayden Schenn to one another, and to other top forwards in the division such as the trio from Dallas in Seguin, Benn and Radulov. At the end of the day, give me Vladimir Tarasenko in a 3v3 tournament over just about anyone else in the NHL, and then I will also take his teammate Brayden Schenn because he had the most impressive mix of production and advanced metrics.

For the last defensive spot, I considered a number of defenseman, including Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan Suter, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, and Tyson Barrie. When it came down to it, Pietrangelo I just felt had the most well-rounded case for deserving selection, including having the most points and the highest cumulative Game Score of any of the options I considered. Further, while Josi’s offensive style is probably better suited for this tournament, I just feel he is at best the third best defenseman on his own team, so I couldn’t pull the trigger on him. For the final goaltender spot I went with Corey Crawford, who comfortably has the best adjusted save percentage and goals saved above average amongst his divisional peers. However, due to injury, I will replace him with Connor Hellebuyck, whose stability in net has helped Winnipeg ascend to the top of the division.[/text_output][image type=”thumbnail” float=”none” src=”1940″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Shawn:

F – Patrick Kane – CHI
F – Nathan MacKinnon – COL
F – Tyler Seguin – DAL
F – Vladimir Tarasenko – STL
F – Eric Staal – MIN
F – Blake Wheeler – WPG
D – P.K. Subban – NSH
D – John Klingberg – DAL
D – Roman Josi – NSH
G – Conor Hellebuyck – WIN
G – Pekka Rinne – NSH

I liked how this roster was constructed initially. Everyone on the roster deserved to be on this team. What I didn’t like is the inclusion of Schenn, because honestly, I felt Tarasekno was the better choice of the two. While you can say that Schenn’s performance has been all-star worthy. The type of game this is, Tarasenko is a player that deserves to be on here.

You really needed Josi on this team, his speed and his shot look good for a game like this. Again, Pietrangelo did deserve to be in the game but the way I’m looking at it is from a standpoint of having players that deserve to be in this game. Pushing it further, looking at Blake Wheeler. Sure, you can push the fact that it would’ve been nice to see Patrik Laine and his really nice beard, Wheeler’s overall season has been something of the ages for Wheeler, so seeing him get recognition is well deserved.[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”1937″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””]