How the NHL All-Star teams should have shook down

As long as it remains in its current and restricting format, there will always be grumbling over the NHL’s All-Star selections.

Obviously it’s no different this year with a handful of worthy candidates now shifting their focus to other travel for the long weekend — including the three players that currently rank just behind the top five in NHL scoring.

But when it boils down to it, it’s clear that name-brand value is the top determining factor, followed by merit and fit, when the NHL hums and haws over its selections.

That’s OK, I suppose. But here’s the way I would have designed the NHL All-Star rosters.

Step 1: Captains

Alright, so captains for each division were chosen through fan vote. We’ll honour that system (and Alexander Ovechkin’s preferred R&R) by starting to build out the rosters based on the worthy selections made by the general public: Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon.

Metropolitan Division:
Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews
Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon
Pacific Division: Connor McDavid

Step 2: Take the most deserving player from each team

Because all 31 teams have to be included, it’s become common practice to leave a player at home in favour of another chosen simply on the basis of meeting the positional quota. This is the most irritating aspect of the selection process for me.

In an effort to avoid such injustices, the next wave of All-Stars include the most deserving player from the teams without a representative. It’ll cost us down the line, but it’s the way it should be.

Metropolitan Division: Sidney Crosby, Cam Atkinson, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, John Carlson, Henrik Lundqvist, Robin Lehner
Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Jack Eichel, Max Domi, Aleksander Barkov, Dylan Larkin, Thomas Chabot
Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon, Mark Scheifele, Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, Pekka Rinne, Ben Bishop
Pacific Division: Connor McDavid, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Pettersson, Clayton Keller, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Marc-Andre Fleury, John Gibson

Notes: Robin Lehner has been under-the-radar brilliant for the Isles and gets the nod over Mat Barzal, who has only recently come on strong. This opens up some options with the Metro roster.. Inclusions of Domi, Barkov and Larkin are going to put on quite a squeeze in the Atlantic, but they need to be on the roster. … Between Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund, it’s a coin flip for me.

Step 3: Fill in the remaining elite

Okay, so we’ve run into some significant issues in certain areas, namely the forward position in the Atlantic, but it’s time to include the players have truly special seasons as much as possible. What other reason would we have an All-Star Game?

I’m looking at the highest scoring forwards and defensemen remaining on the board.

Metropolitan Division: Sidney Crosby, Cam Atkinson, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, John Carlson, Kris Letang, Henrik Lundqvist, Robin Lehner
Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Jack Eichel, Max Domi, Aleksander Barkov, Dylan Larkin, Thomas Chabot, Morgan Rielly,
Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, Pekka Rinne, Ben Bishop
Pacific Division: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Pettersson, Clayton Keller, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Mark Giordano, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, John Gibson

Notes: I see the argument against Leon Draisaitl, and having the only forward teammates on the Pacific Division roster belonging to Edmonton. Still, he gets the nod by a hair over Sean Monahan.

Step 4: Reward the best teams

We’re at the point now where we are just filling in the talent as needed. Instead of splitting hairs with point totals and deep dives into the advanced data, let’s reward the players helping lift the NHL’s elite teams.

Metropolitan Division: Sidney Crosby, Cam Atkinson, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Kris Letang, Seth Jones, Henrik Lundqvist, Robin Lehner

Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Jack Eichel, Max Domi, Aleksander Barkov, Dylan Larkin, Thomas Chabot, Morgan Rielly, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Frederik Andersen

Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Zach Parise, Patrick Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi, Tyson Barrie, Pekka Rinne, Ben Bishop

Pacific Division: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Pettersson, Clayton Keller, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Mark Giordano, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, John Gibson

Notes: One All-Star Game for Nicklas Backstrom to this point? Not enough. … Yes, Andrei Vasilevskiy’s missed nearly half the season, but he’s the best goalie in the NHL on the best team. .. As much as it pains me to not be able to include Mitch Marner and Brayden Point on the Atlantic roster, at least it wasn’t because I had chose John Tavares and Steven Stamkos instead.

To compare, who’s how the NHL saw it (with “last men” to come):

Metropolitan Division: Sidney Crosby, Cam Atkinson, Sebastian Aho, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, Mat Barzal, John Carlson, Seth Jones, Henrik Lundqvist, Braden Holtby

Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Jack Eichel, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Thomas Chabot, Keith Yandle, Jimmy Howard, Carey Price

Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Patrick Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi, Miro Heiskanen, Pekka Rinne, Devan Dubnyk

Pacific Division: Connor McDavid, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Pettersson, Clayton Keller, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, John Gibson

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