NHL All-Star Weekend Kicks Off in Toronto | NOTEBOOK

TORONTO, ON - NHL All-Star Weekend kicked off with a Red Carpet, a Fantasy Draft and an inaugural PWHL 3-on-3 showcase.

Team Hughes Picks Jesper

Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes as co-captains made a splash right off the start, taking red-hot Nikita Kucherov with their first pick -- also the first pick overall.

• Read our Feature: Hughes and Bratt Ready for a Fun Weekend

Team Hughes

Jack Hughes, Co-Captain (not playing)
Quinn Hughes, Co-Captain
Elias Pettersson, Assistant Captain

1. Nikita Kucherov, TBL
2. Thatcher Demko, VAN (G)
3. Kyle Connor, WPG
4. Brady Tkachuk, OTT
5. Jesper Bratt, NJD
6. Cam Talbot, LAK (G)
7. Brock Boeser, VAN
8. J.T. Miller, VAN
9. Frank Vatrano, ANA

Bratt was asked before the draft if he thought he might be selected by Team Hughes.

“I tried to give him a heads up and said, ‘hey, I don’t want it to be like my first draft experience to have to wait that long so if you see me there in the crowd, please pick me,'" joked Bratt. "We’ll see if he has my word on that.”

After the draft, Bratt was happy that he ended up selected by Team Hughes.

"Jack came up huge for me," he said.

Jesper Arrives

This is the first NHL All-Star Game for Jesper Bratt and he's here as an injury replacement for Jack Hughes.

“I’m very proud to have the chance to be here and experience this. I’m looking forward to a great weekend ahead," said Bratt, noting that it's unfortunate Jack couldn't play. 

Jesper spoke to the media before he was selected by Team Hughes. He was asked which players he was looking forward to potentially playing with. 

“There’s so much talent here. So many great players," he said. "For me, growing up, playing with a guy like Sidney Crosby or something like that would be pretty special. There’s a lot of great players.”

Bratt also said it would be great to play with Elias Pettersson or William Nylander, players he grew up playing with particularly on Swedish national teams. 

“Me and Petey played together. We’re the same age group," Bratt added. "It’s going to be great to spend a little time with him here.”

Bratt talked about the growth of Swedish hockey, with so many fellow countrymen at the All-Star Game this year.

“It’s awesome. It’s great seeing so many Swedish guys, especially guys I knew and played in tournaments with," he said. “Swedish hockey is doing such an amazing job with young talent and young players. You saw at the World Juniors, so much talent and so much skill.”

The Other Teams

Team Hughes will be stacking up against three other clubs on Saturday. Here's how they look: 

Team Matthews
Auston Matthew, TOR
Morgan Rielly, TOR
William Nylander, TOR
Mitch Marner, TOR
Jake Oettinger, DAL
Clayton Keller, ARI
Mathew Barzal, NYI
Igor Shesterkin, NYR
Filip Forsberg, NSH
Alex DeBrincat, DET
Vincent Trochek, NYR

Team MacKinnon
Nathan MacKinnon, COL
Cale Makar, COL
Sidney Crosby, PIT
Alexandar Georgiev, COL
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Tom Wilson, WSH
Jeremy Swayman, BOS
Travis Konecny, PHI
Elias Lindholm, VAN
Oliver Bjorkstrand, SEA

Team McDavid
Connor McDavid, EDM
Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG
David Pastrnak, BOS
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Robert Thomas, STL
Sam Reinhart, FLA
Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA
Boone Jenner, CBJ
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Tomas Hertl, SJS