2019 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Announced

On January 26th, the NHL will host their 64th NHL All-Star Game in San Jose at the SAP Center which is home of the San Jose Sharks. On Wednesday, the NHL released the All-Star Game selections for all four of the teams that will be participating in the single-elimination tournament that started back in 2016. The four division which consist of the Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific will participate in a 3-on-3 tournament that lasts a total of 20 minutes. There will be three games and the division that wins the Skills Competition the previous night will decide their first opponent as well as whether they want to play the first or second game of the tournament.

In order to grab the best talent from each division, the NHL has put in place some key criteria when selecting players for the All-Star Game. There are four of these points, and they are as followed:

-One representative from each of the league's 31 teams

-The top 10 to 15 league scorers at the time of selection

-As many marketed league "stars" as possible 

-Multiple players from the host team/city

With that in mind, multiple players are bound to get snubbed from being selected even if they are deserving of a spot in the game. While their talent may not be on display in the All-Star Game, it certainly does not go unnoticed. Before we get into the rosters, it is worth mentioning that the four captains are voted on by the fans and they were the following players:

Atlantic Division: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Central Division: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Pacific Division: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Since these players were named the fan-voted captains, Alexander Ovechkin decided to voluntarily withdraw from the All-Star Game festivities in order to rest for the second half of the season. With all this in mind, it is time to unveil the 2019 NHL All-Star Game rosters.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division All-Stars

F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres

F Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

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 Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan Division All-Stars

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 John Carlson, Washington Capitals

D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets

G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

G Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

Western Conference

Central Division All-Stars

F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks

F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

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

Pacific Division All-Stars

F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames

F Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes

F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

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

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