The NHL All-Star Weekend is finally here, and the league’s brightest stars have gathered in Toronto. The skills competition will occur on Friday, while the game will be on Saturday afternoon. Before the All-Star action commences, the teams had to be decided. For the 2024 event, the league decided to bring back a format from the past as a player draft was used to determine the four All-Star teams.
Related: 2024 NHL All-Star Game Snubs
Team Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Hughes Brothers, Nathan MacKinnon, and their respective co-captains and celebrity captains have all chosen the players they want to help represent their team for the best chances to win. Here are the final rosters for all the teams and a few thoughts on the team selection and draft process.
Team Auston Matthews
Co-Captain: Morgan Rielly, Celebrity Co-Captain: Justin Bieber
Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs, Morgan Rielly – Toronto Maple Leafs, William Nylander – Toronto Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner – Toronto Maple Leafs, Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars, Clayton Keller – Arizona Coyotes, Mathew Barzal – New York Islanders, Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers, Filip Forsberg – Nashville Predators, Alex Debrincat – Detroit Red Wings, Vincent Trocheck – New York Rangers
Big surprise, the core four of the hometown team are once again paired together, just as planned. Besides that, the roster is a double-edged sword; all players are super skilled but demand the puck a lot with their style of play. The chemistry is going to fit well when the hometown Maple Leafs are on the ice. Still, with some quick wingers like Mathew Barzal and hometown friend of Auston Matthews, Clayton Keller, it could be fun seeing some trick plays with how well this team can handle the puck.
Team Hughes
Co-Captains: Jack/Quinn Hughes, Celebrity Co-Captain: Michael Buble
Quinn Hughes – Vancouver Canucks, Elias Pettersson – Vancouver Canucks, Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lighting, Thatcher Demko – Vancouver Canucks, Kyle Connor – Winnipeg Jets, Brady Tkachuck – Ottawa Senators, Jesper Bratt – New Jersey Devils, Cam Talbot – Los Angeles Kings, Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks, J.T. Miller – Vancouver Canucks, Frank Vatrano – Anaheim Ducks.
Shocker, the Canucks band is all together, and it’s all thanks to Michael Buble’s sheer passion for the team and some trade negotiation with Team MacKinnon for the rights to Brock Beser. The chemistry on this team is outstanding, with some of the best wingers in the game. Apparently, Quinn Hughes is playing center, not defense, which was reported right at the start of the draft when Buble brought it up before locking in the first pick, Nikita Kucherov.
Team Nathan MacKinnon
Co-Captain Cale Makar, Celebrity Co-Captain: Tate McRae
Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche, Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche, Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins, Alexandar Georgiev – Colorado Avalanche, Kirill Kaprizov – Minnesota Wild, Sebastian Aho – Carolina Hurricanes, Tom Wilson – Washington Capitals, Jeremy Swayman – Boston Bruins, Travis Konecny – Philadelphia Flyers, Elias Lindholm – Vancouver Canucks, Oliver Bjorkstrand – Seattle Kraken
Once again, the band is back together; this time, it’s the Avalanche boys. Nathan MacKinnon was able to lock in his first pick with his long-time friend Sidney Crosby with the previously mentioned talks with the Hughes team, and Tate McRae had the two-sided coin of enjoyment and disappointment in having to pick an ex-Calgary Flame (her hometown team), now Vancouver Canuck Elias Lindholm. Seeing MacKinnon and Crosby, the Nova Scotians, and a combination of Cale Makar, Kirill Kaprizov, and others will be magical.
Team Connor McDavid
Co-Captain: Leon Draisaitl, Celebrity Co-Captain: Will Arnett
Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers, Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers, Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets, David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins, Rasmus Dahlin – Buffalo Sabres, Robert Thomas – St. Louis Blues, Sam Reinhart – Florida Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky – Florida Panthers, Boone Jenner – Columbus Blue Jackets, Nick Suzuki – Montreal Canadiens, Tomas Hertl – San Jose Sharks
“We’re going to grab Sam’s (Reinhart) teammate from Flordia Sam Bobrovsky” – Connor McDavid. It was obviously a little screw-up from McDavid, but honestly, it’s one of the most exciting teams I’m looking forward to watching. Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart, and David Pastrnak, paired with Connor McDavid and Rasmus Dahlin, sound like hell to play against with how well they can shoot and play off this team’s centers’ ability to make plays for others in magical ways.
Thursday’s Player Draft was the NHL’s first time returning to the format since 2015 in Columbus. Four teams – Team Hughes, Team Matthews, Team MacKinnon, and Team McDavid – picked seven skaters and two goalies each in the nine-round event.
The 2024 NHL All-Star Game gets underway on Saturday at 3 pm ET with Team MacKinnon vs. Team McDavid followed by Team Hughes vs. Team Matthews at 4 pm ET.
