NHL.com selects its All-Star Game rosters

To celebrate the start of fan voting for the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Game, NHL.com polled its stable of staff writers and editors for their All-Star picks.
The voters were asked to name a captain for each divisional team, which is what the public will be voting on for the next month. They also went a step further and picked the 11-player team for each of the four divisions. Three writers/editors were assigned to each of the four divisions, and named six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies to represent that division. The panel ranked the forwards one through six, the defensemen one through three and the goalies as one or two. Cumulative vote totals determined who made the list and where they were placed. Ties were broken by the player who appeared on more ballots.

Fans can have their say as well with
the NHL All-Star Fan Vote
. The NHL's Hockey Operations staff will pick the remaining players for the game, which will be held in Los Angeles on Jan. 29.
VOTE NOW: CHOOSE ALL-STAR GAME CAPTAINS
The game will use the same format as last season, with the four division teams playing in a 3-on-3 tournament.

Metropolitan Division All-Star Team

Captain: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Forwards

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
   2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
   3. Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers
   4. Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes
   5. Kevin Hayes, New York Rangers
   6. John Tavares, New York Islanders

Defensemen

1. Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers
   2. Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
   3. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Goaltenders

1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
   2. Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils
      Voting panel:Tom Gulitti, NHL.com staff writer; Mike Morreale, NHL.com staff writer; Adam Kimelman, NHL.com deputy managing editor
      The Metropolitan Division All-Star Team was not a difficult one for our panel to select.
      Eight of the 11 players on the team appeared on each of the three ballots, and Crosby, who was the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and leads the League in goals (15), was a unanimous No. 1 selection among forwards and as team captain.
      At forward, Crosby is joined by Ovechkin, who finished second on each ballot. Simmonds was third on two ballots and fourth on the other. Skinner received two fourth-place votes and a sixth-place vote. Hayes got a third-place vote and a fourth-place vote; he did not appear on the third ballot. Tavares, the captain of the Islanders, received a fifth-place vote and two sixth-place votes. Malkin was fifth on one ballot but did not appear on the other two.

On defense, Werenski has made quite the impression in his rookie season. Two voters picked him as the top defenseman and he was third on the other ballot. Werenski, 19, has 16 points in 21 games and is sixth among defensemen in scoring. McDonagh, enjoying a renaissance season, was first on one ballot and second on each of the other two. Letang was second on one ballot and third on another. Damon Severson of the New Jersey Devils was the only other defenseman named on a ballot, receiving a third-place vote.
Bobrovsky was the only goalie named on all three ballots. He has 12 wins and a .930 save percentage. Schneider received two second-place votes. Pittsburgh's Matt Murray received a first-place vote but did not appear on either of the other two ballots.

Atlantic Division All-Star Team

Captain: Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens

Forwards

1. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
   2. Jonathan Marchessault, Florida Panthers
   3. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
   4. James van Riemsdyk, Toronto Maple Leafs
   5. Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
   6. Gustav Nyquist, Detroit Red Wings

Defensemen

1. Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
   2. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
   3. Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres

Goaltenders

1. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
   2. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins

Voting panel:Amalie Benjamin, NHL.com staff writer; Dan Rosen, NHL.com senior writer; Arpon Basu, LNH.com senior managing editor
The voting for the forwards on the Atlantic Division team was more splintered than any of the other three; in all, 10 players received votes. Kucherov received all three first-place votes. He is tied for second in scoring with 26 points and has kept the Lightning afloat in the absence of Steven Stamkos, who was injured Nov. 15. Marchessault tied Matthews, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, for second among forwards; however, Marchessault was named on all three ballots while Matthews appeared on two of the three. Marchessault, 25, has already eclipsed his career high for goals by scoring 10 in 23 games. Van Riemsdyk has 19 points, more than all but four players in the Atlantic Division. Marchand was in a dogfight with teammate David Pastrnak for a spot on this roster and, in the end, his deeper resume proved to be the difference. Nyquist, a right wing whose 14 points are second on the Red Wings in scoring, earned the final forward spot.
Things were much more clear-cut for the rest of the team. On defense, the resurgent Weber received all three first-place votes and two of three votes for the captaincy. Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, received all three second-place votes. Ristolainen is the third defenseman, edging Victor Hedman of the Lightning.
Price, who received the other captain's vote, was first on all three ballots. He's 13-2-1 with a 1.68 goals-against average and.947 save percentage. Rask got all three second-place votes.

Central Division All-Star Team

Captain: Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild

Forwards

1. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
   2. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
   3. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
   4. Patrik Laine, Winnipeg Jets
   5. Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
   6. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Defensemen

1. Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild
   2. Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
   3. P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators

Goaltenders

1. Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
   2. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
      Voting panel:Dan Rosen, NHL.com senior writer; Nick Cotsonika, NHL.com columnist; Shawn Roarke, NHL.com director of editorial
      Scheifele has been one of the biggest surprises in the League this season and that continued in our vote; he was named first on all three ballots and edged Kane and Tarasenko for the top forward spot. Scheifele has scored more points (26) than anyone in the Central Division. Kane has 23 points and was No. 2 on each ballot.
      Tarasenko, who also has 23 points, was No. 3 on each ballot. Things got a bit interesting at No. 4: Laine received two votes and Seguin got one. Laine, who has 13 goals and 19 points, is tied for the rookie scoring lead with Mitchell Marner of the Maple Leafs. Seguin is fourth in the NHL with 24 points. Nathan McKinnon, Colorado's leading scorer with 15 points, is the other forward.

At defense, it was a battle between Suter and Keith. Suter, who has 15 points and a plus-11 rating, received two of three votes for top defenseman in the division as well as two votes for captain. Keith, who also has 15 points (all assists), received the other first-place vote and the final vote for division captaincy. Subban, in his first season with Nashville, edged Chicago's Brent Seabrook for the third spot.
Dubnyk is having a season to remember so far with a 1.66 GAA and .946 save percentage. He was rewarded for that excellence with the first-place vote on each of the three ballots. Rinne is the second goalie, receiving two second-place votes to one for Chicago's Corey Crawford.

Pacific Division All-Star Team

Captain: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Forwards

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
   2. Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
   3. Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
   4. Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
   5. Bo Horvat, Vancouver Canucks
   6. Michael Frolik, Calgary Flames

Defensemen

1. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
   2. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
   3. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes

Goaltenders

1. Cam Talbot, Edmonton Oilers
   2. Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
      Voting panel:Tim Campbell, NHL.com staff writer; Brian Compton, NHL.com staff writer; Bill Price, NHL.com editor-in-chief
      The 2016-17 season has been a McDavid tour de force so far. It will continue at the All-Star Game because McDavid was first on all three ballots of our Pacific Division panel and earned two of the three votes for captain. McDavid, 19, has 11 goals and a League-leading 31 points. Things were a bit more fluid behind him. Pavelski received two second-place votes and a fourth-place vote. Carter was third on each ballot. Getzlaf was second on one ballot but fifth on each of the other two. Pavelski has 21 points, Carter has 19, and Getzlaf has 18. Horvat leads the Canucks in scoring (16 points) in his third NHL season. He received one fourth-place vote, one fifth-place vote and one sixth-place vote. Frolik, whose 15 points lead the Flames, is the final forward.

Burns, who received the other vote for division captain, was a unanimous No. 1 choice by the panel. He leads all defensemen with 21 points. Doughty, the reigning Norris Trophy holder, received second-place votes from each of the three voters. Ekman-Larsson was the final defenseman chosen. No other defenseman in the division received a vote.
Talbot received two first-place votes but was not named on the third ballot. Jones earned two second-place votes but was not named on the third ballot. Peter Budaj of the Kings, an emergency fill-in for the injured Jonathan Quick, received one first-place vote but did not appear on any other ballot. Calgary's Chad Johnson received a second-place vote.