Last night the NHL announced that Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins), Jeff Skinner (Buffalo Sabres), Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche) and Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) were elected through the Last Man In ballot for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game. According to the NHL, there was one spot open on each divisional roster and more than 11.5 million votes were cast by fans for the selections. The four players were picked out of 31 candidates.
Landeskog, 26, will appear for his first career All-Star game. He will join his Avalanche teammates Nathan MacKinnon and to represent the Central Division. The captain registered 27 goals and 24 assists for 51 points through 44 games.
Skinner, 26, will join his teammate Jack Eichel for the Atlantic Division. This will be his second All-Star game in an eight year career. Skinner is currently second in the league in goals (30) behind Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin (32 goals).
Draisaitl, 23, will be making his All-Star debut. The German native has 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points through 44 games. He will be uniting with his Oilers teammate and Hart Trophy candidate Connor McDavid.
Letang, 31, was selected to represent the Metropolitan Division along with his teammate Sidney Crosby. The Norris Trophy candidate will make his fifth career All-Star appearance. Letang contributed impressive offensive defenseman numbers with 37 points (10 G, 27A) in 41 games.
Biggest Snub: Mark Giordano, Defensemen, Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames defensemen and captain Mark Giordano. (Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports)
The 35-year-old is having a career year and many experts are saying he’s the top candidate for the Norris Trophy (Top Defensemen in the NHL). The problem is that the Pacific Division was already loaded with defensemen.
San Jose has two defensemen with Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson playing while Drew Doughty was the only representative of the abysmal Los Angeles Kings. San Jose being the host team probably made a huge impact for these two defensemen being selected. The same problem exists with the other Norris Trophy candidate Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Calgary also has a case of having multiple All-Star representatives being the top team in the Western Conference.
The All-Star game is a popularity contest and it’s common to see snubs like Giordano’s and Rielly’s case. Giordano can still be selected for the first or second end-of-year All-Star teams, which actually matters. Giordano can focus on winning the Norris and help the Flames contend for the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals.
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres (Last Men In vote)
F Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs (Captain)
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
F John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs
D Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators
D Keith Yandle, Florida Panthers
G Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning*
(*Injury replacement for Carey Price)
F Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes
F Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
F Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
F Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils
D Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Men In vote)
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
(*Captain Alex Ovechkin pulled out.)
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche (Last Men In vote)
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche (Captain)
F Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
F Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
F Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets
D Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
G Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
G Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
F Clayton Keller, Arizona CoyotesD
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (Captain)
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Last Men In)
F Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
D Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
D Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
G John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
The 2019 NHL All-Star Skills will take place on Friday, Jan. 25 (9 p.m. ET, NBCSN) and the 2019 NHL All-Star Game will be on Saturday, Jan. 26 (8 p.m. ET, NBC).
The 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills will be on Friday, Jan. 25 (6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)
The 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be on Saturday, Jan. 26 (5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET, on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
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