2018 NHL All-Star Game Rosters

The 2018 NHL All-Star Game is set to take place over the weekend of Jan. 27-28. As per tradition, the 63rd edition of the All-Star game will have its skills competition held the night before the games. This will be the third consecutive year the league will have a four-team divisional format. The Metropolitan Division won last year’s affair and outscored its opponents 14-9.

With that in mind, the league has announced the rosters for the 2018 All-Star game, highlighted by its four captains. Steven Stamkos will captain the Atlantic  Division while Alexander Ovechkin holds the honors for the Metropolitan Division. P.K. Subban and Connor McDavid will captain the Central and Pacific Division teams respectively. Both Subban and McDavid are returning captains for their respective divisions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZ6PjjQGR8

Jon Cooper and Barry Trotz were named the head coaches of the Central and Metropolitan Division teams. Peter Laviolette and Gerard Gallant will coach the Central and Pacific teams respectively. The All-Star festivities will be hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are hosting their second All-Star Game in franchise history. The events will take place at Amalie Arena and will once again be under a 3-on-3 tournament format.

Here are the roster breakdowns for the 2018 NHL All-Star Game:

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division roster is highlighted Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos. Kucherov’s 27 goals and 60 points lead the NHL and have him projected to finish the year with new career highs. The 24-year-old is on pace to end the year with 51 goals and 114 points. No player in the NHL has a higher points-per-game (P/GP) than Kucherov’s 1.40 P/GP.

In total there are four Lightning players at this year’s All-Star game, including Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Carey Price highlights the list of returnees and was the captain of last year’s Atlantic team. The other five returnees are Kucherov, Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Brad Marchand, and Auston Matthews. This will be the first NHL All-Star Game for Vasilevskiy, Aleksander Barkov, and Jack Eichel.

Nikita Kucherov Steve Stamkos Anton Stralman Lightning
Nikita Kucherov is an NHL All-Star. (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

 

Player Team GP

GP

G

W

A

GAA

PTS

SV%

Carey Price (G) Montreal Canadiens 29 13 2.89 .911
Andrei Vasilevskiy (G) Tampa Bay Lightning 36 27 2.10 .933
Mike Green (D) Detroit Red Wings 41 4 20 24
Victor Hedman (D) Tampa Bay Lightning 43 6 27 33
Erik Karlsson (D) Ottawa Senators 36 3 27 30
Aleksander Barkov (F) Florida Panthers 41 14 26 40
Jack Eichel (F) Buffalo Sabres 43 17 22 39
Nikita Kucherov (F) Tampa Bay Lightning 43 27 33 60
Brad Marchand (F) Boston Bruins 32 17 23 40
Auston Matthews (F) Toronto Maple Leafs 34 19 14 33
Steven Stamkos (F) Tampa Bay Lightning 43 17 35 52

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division will be without its All-Star MVP from last year in Wayne Simmonds, but the roster is still deep. It’ll be fun for fans to see the list of usual suspects like Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Alex Ovechkin, John Tavares and Taylor Hall in 3-on-3 action. Giroux currently leads the Metropolitan in scoring with 52 points in 42 games. He’s followed closely by a pair of New York Islanders in Tavares and Josh Bailey, who have 51 and 50 points respectively.

This will be the first All-Star Game for Bailey, who is enjoying a breakout campaign. He’s on the verge of setting new career highs in goals and points he set last season. Noah Hanifin will also be playing in his first All-Star Game. The Metropolitan team should create some excitement thanks to its who’s who of names and star power. Is it possible they win the 3-on-3 tournament for a second straight year?

Josh Bailey John Tavares New York Islanders
Josh Bailey and John Tavares (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

 

Player Team GP

GP

G

W

A

GAA

PTS

SV%

Braden Holtby (G) Washington Capitals 32 24 2.68 .917
Henrik Lundqvist (G) New York Rangers 35 19 2.52 .924
Noah Hanifin (D) Carolina Hurricanes 42 7 14 21
Seth Jones (D) Columbus Blue Jackets 44 7 21 28
Kris Letang (D) Pittsburgh Penguins 41 3 24 27
Josh Bailey (F) New York Islanders 42 12 38 50
Sidney Crosby (F) Pittsburgh Penguins 44 15 28 43
Claude Giroux (F) Philadelphia Flyers 42 14 38 52
Taylor Hall (F) New Jersey Devils 39 15 27 42
Alex Ovechkin (F) Washington Capitals 43 27 19 46
John Tavares (F) New York Islanders 43 22 29 51

Central Division

A pair of Winnipeg Jets will highlight the Central Division team for the All-Star Game. Connor Hellebuyck has had a sparkling 2.36 goals-against average (GAA), and a .923 save percentage (SV%) through 35 games. The 24-year-old has earned some Vezina Trophy consideration as he leads the second-place Jets in the Western Conference. Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler joins Hellebuyck, and he’s presently tied for the scoring lead among Central Division players with 52 points in 44 games.

Hellebuyck isn’t the only first-time All-Star on this team either. John Klingberg, Alex Pietrangelo, and Brayden Schenn will also make their debuts. Only four players return from last year’s team. Those players are Patrick Kane, Nathan MacKinnon, Tyler Seguin, and P.K. Subban.

Connor Hellebuyck (Amy Irvin / THW)

 

Player Team GP

GP

G

W

A

GAA

PTS

SV%

Connor Hellebuyck (G) Winnipeg Jets 35 23 2.36 .923
Pekka Rinne (G) Nashville Predators 32 21 2.43 .924
John Klingberg (D) Dallas Stars 43 6 33 39
PK Subban (D) Nashville Predators 42 9 23 32
Alex Pietrangelo (D) St. Louis Blues 42 7 23 30
Patrick Kane (F) Chicago Blackhawks 42 18 27 45
Nathan MacKinnon (F) Colorado Avalanche 41 18 34 52
Brayden Schenn (F) St. Louis Blues 46 17 27 44
Tyler Seguin (F) Dallas Stars 43 21 19 40
Eric Staal (F) Minnesota Wild 43 19 18 37
Blake Wheeler (F) Winnipeg Jets 44 14 38 52

Pacific Division

Only four players are coming back from last year’s Pacific Division team. Connor McDavid, Johnny Gaudreau, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty are back from last year’s team that lost to the Metropolitan Division in the final. Along with some firepower, the Pacific team will have a stellar combination of goaltenders with Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Quick in net.

Related: Edmonton Overdue for All-Star Game

Four of the Pacific Division’s top five scorers will be at the All-Star Game. Gaudreau currently leads the division in scoring with 13 goals and 49 points in 42  games. Connor McDavid will captain the team as mentioned above. Brock Boeser and Rickard Rakell will make their first All-Star Game appearances in their young careers. Boeser currently leads all rookies with 22 goals and 40 points in 40 games and is a front-runner for the Calder Trophy.

Brock Boeser Canucks
Brock Boeser (Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports)

 

Player Team GP

GP

G

W

A

GAA

PTS

SV%

Marc-Andre Fleury (G) Vegas Golden Knights 12 9 1.73 .945
Jonathan Quick (G) Los Angeles Kings 36 18 2.55 .921
Brent Burns (D) San Jose Sharks 40 7 23 30
Drew Doughty (D) Los Angeles Kings 42 7 23 30
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D) Arizona Coyotes 43 6 13 19
Brock Boeser (F) Vancouver Canucks 40 22 18 40
Johnny Gaudreau (F) Calgary Flames 42 13 36 49
Anze Kopitar (F) Los Angeles Kings 42 17 27 44
Connor McDavid (F) Edmonton Oilers 44 15 33 48
James Neal (F) Vegas Golden Knights 41 18 11 29
Rickard Rakell (F) Anaheim Ducks 38 15 16 31