Cooper not tied to keeping Lightning players together at All-Star Game

Jon Cooper, who will coach the Atlantic Division in the
2018 Honda NHL All Star Game
on Sunday, said he'll likely start the game with his Tampa Bay Lightning players on the ice, but won't keep that combination intact for long.
Forwards Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, along with goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, will represent the hometown Lightning for the 3-on-3 round robin tournament at Amalie Arena (3:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVA Sports). The Atlantic Division will play the Metropolitan Division in the second semifinal, following the Pacific Division vs. the Central Division.

"I think that would be a disservice to everybody," Cooper said, on keeping the Lightning players together for the duration of the game. "Who wouldn't want to see Stammer play with Toronto Maple Leafs center] Auston Matthews or Kucherov play with [Florida Panthers center Aleksander] Barkov? Go down the list.
[RELATED: [Stamkos, Subban bring childhood bond to All-Star Game]
"If I don't want to tick people off, there's probably four guys I should put on the ice at the drop of the puck but after that, we will see how it goes. I'm not going to sit here and say all the Tampa guys have to play with each other."
Kucherov, the League-leading scorer with 63 points, and Stamkos (tied for third, 58 points) are regular linemates, each of whom has played with Point (20 goals) this season. Point replaced Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who was selected but will miss the game because of a lower-body injury.

"There's no question, I would love to see the guys on the ice together," Cooper said. "Who knows if they are ever going to get that chance again? At a world event, Matthews (United States) is never going to get to play with Kucherov (Russia), so this is your one time you get to see those guys together."
Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green are the four other non-goaltenders on the Atlantic Division team.
"The problem is, there's not a lot of time. The games are short and in the end, as competitors, we want to win the game ... Am I tied to playing just the Tampa guys together? No. I think fans would probably want to see it in the beginning but in the end, the players get to do it 82 games a year. They don't get to play with the other guys."