Filling Out the All-Star Rosters

Today, the NHL announced the starters for this month’s All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C., voted in by the fans – Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, along with Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. While those six are guaranteed to be in the game, 36 reserves (plus 12 rookies) will be announced a week from now.

If the reserves were to be named today, here’s who I feel should be named as All Stars. (Remember, between either the All-Star Game or the rookie game, each team must have a representative.)

By Position:
24 Forwards (in alphabetical order)-
Sidney Crosby, PIT*
Evgeni Malkin, PIT*
Jonathan Toews, CHI*
Pavel Datsyuk, DET**
Matt Duchene, COL
Loui Eriksson, DAL
Martin Havlat, MIN
Jarome Iginla, CGY
Anze Kopitar, LA
Clarke MacArthur, TOR
Rick Nash, CBJ
Alex Ovechkin, WSH
Corey Perry, ANA
Brad Richards, DAL
Mike Richards, PHI
Daniel Sedin, VAN
Henrik Sedin, VAN
Alexander Semin, WSH
Patrick Sharp, CHI
Eric Staal, CAR
Steven Stamkos, TB
Martin St. Louis, TB
John Tavares, NYI
Joe Thornton, SJ
Henrik Zetterberg, DET

12 Defensemen-
Duncan Keith, CHI*
Kris Letang, PIT*
Dustin Byfuglien, ATL
Zdeno Chara, BOS
Drew Doughty, LA
Tobias Enstrom, ATL
Erik Karlsson, OTT
Nicklas Lidstrom, DET
John-Michael Liles, COL
Lubomir Visnovsky, ANA
Shea Weber, NSH
Keith Yandle, PHX

6 Goalies-
Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT*
Jaroslav Halak, STL
Carey Price, MTL
Jonathan Quick, LA
Tim Thomas, BOS
Tomas Vokoun, FLA

12 Rookies-
Sergei Bobrovsky, G, PHI
John Carlson, D, WSH
Logan Couture, F, SJ
Jordan Eberle, F, EDM
Tyler Ennis, F, BUF
Cam Fowler, D, ANA
Taylor Hall, F, EDM
Anders Lindback, G, NSH
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, COL
Jeffrey Skinner, F, CAR
Derek Stepan, F, NYR
Mattias Tedenby, F, NJ

By Team:
Anaheim- Corey Perry, Lubomir Visnovsky, Cam Fowler ®
Atlanta- Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom
Boston- Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas
Buffalo- Tyler Ennis ®
Calgary- Jarome Iginla
Carolina- Eric Staal, Jeffrey Skinner ®
Chicago- Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews
Colorado- Matt Duchene, John-Michael Liles, Kevin Shattenkirk ®
Columbus- Rick Nash
Dallas- Loui Eriksson, Brad Richards
Detroit- Pavel Datsyuk**, Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg
Edmonton- Taylor Hall ®, Jordan Eberle ®
Florida- Tomas Vokoun
Los Angeles- Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick
Minnesota- Martin Havlat
Montreal- Carey Price
Nashville- Shea Weber, Anders Lindback ®
New Jersey- Mattias Tedenby ®
NY Islanders- John Tavares
NY Rangers- Derek Stepan ®
Ottawa- Erik Karlsson
Philadelphia- Mike Richards, Sergei Bobrovsky ®
Phoenix- Keith Yandle
Pittsburgh- Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin
San Jose- Joe Thornton, Logan Couture ®
St. Louis- Jaroslav Halak
Tampa Bay- Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis
Toronto- Clarke MacArthur
Vancouver- Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
Washington- Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin

Notable Snubs:
Nicklas Backstrom, WSH; Dan Boyle, SJ; Dustin Brown, LA; Brent Burns, MIN; Jeff Carter, PHI; Brandon Dubinsky, NYR; Ryan Getzlaf, ANA; Claude Giroux, PHI; Dany Heatley, SJ; Jonas Hiller, ANA; Jack Johnson, LA; Ryan Kesler, VAN; Milan Lucic, BOS; Henrik Lundqvist, NYR; Roberto Luongo, VAN; Ondrej Pavelec, ATL; Tomas Plekanec, MTL; Marc Staal, NYR; Cam Ward, CAR; Ryan Whitney, EDM

Justifying the selections:
- Many goaltenders were snubbed due to the 'numbers game'. Jaroslav Halak and Tomas Vokoun may not have made it otherwise, but were the only representative from their team. Guys like Ondrej Pavelec, Cam Ward and Roberto Luongo got the shaft because of this.
- The last forward selection I made was Loui Eriksson, just making it over Claude Giroux. Giroux started on fire, but I felt Eriksson’s consistency won over in the end.
- The last defensive selection I made was Lubomir Visnovsky, getting in over Jack Johnson. Visnovsky is a distant Norris candidate, Johnson even further off (as of now).
- Also defensively, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brent Burns gets named as the Wild’s representative. He has quietly had a great season, overcoming the injuries from recent years.
- John Tavares has had struggles this year, but his recent surge (13 points in 9 games) has convinced me that he’ll be the Isles’ representative – just by sheer name recognition, if nothing else.
- Clarke MacArthur gets in over Phil Kessel for the Leafs. MacArthur leads the team in points and is a great story. Kessel is a team-worst minus-14 and has been very inconsistent
- The last selection I made on the rookie team was the second goaltending slot. It came down to Anders Lindback and Corey Crawford. I leaned towards Nashville’s netminder due to the fact that he rose to the occasion with Pekka Rinne out, and boasts a .922 save percentage.

For more information on the All-Star Game, visit NHL.com.

* Starter
** I think Datsyuk will be named to the team, but won’t play due to injury.

Photos credit: Getty Images