NHL.com staff selects All-Star teams

Rosters for the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be announced at noon on Tuesday by the League's Hockey Operation Department, but before they are, NHL.com revealed its picks for the game.
Twelve NHL.com staff writers and editors were asked to fill out their own teams to go along with the four captains already selected by the fans.

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby was voted captain of the Metropolitan Division, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price captain of the Atlantic Division, Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban captain of the Central Division and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid captain of the Pacific Division.
Each panelist was asked to pick the 11-player team for each of the four divisions, having one player per each divisional team among the six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
The 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be in Los Angeles on Jan. 29 and will use the same format as last season, with the four division teams playing in a 3-on-3 tournament.
Here is how the NHL.com staffers voted:

Metropolitan Division All-Star Team

Forwards
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (captain)
John Tavares, New York Islanders
Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers
Others receiving votes:Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers; Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes; Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets; Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
Defensemen
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Others receiving votes:John Carlson, Washington Capitals; Justin Schultz, Pittsburgh Penguins; Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes; Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins; Damon Severson, New Jersey Devils
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Others receiving votes:Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes; Thomas Greiss, New York Islanders; Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils
There were a few unanimous decisions on the Metropolitan Division team, but not as many as you might think.
Werenski, a candidate for the Calder Trophy as the top rookie, was on each of the dozen ballots, as were McDonagh, and Bobrovsky, a candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the League's best goaltender and the Hart Trophy as League MVP.
The vote among the forwards from the Flyers was interesting. Voracek was on one more ballot than Simmonds, but Giroux also received a vote. Skinner was on five rosters, but did not make the cut. Instead, second-year defenseman Slavin was picked to represent the Hurricanes.

Atlantic Division All-Star Team

Forwards
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Kyle Okposo, Buffalo Sabres
Others receiving votes:David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins; Jaromir Jagr, Florida Panthers; Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins; Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
Defensemen
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
Others receiving votes: Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres
Goaltenders
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens (captain)
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Others receiving votes: None
There were four unanimous selections from the Atlantic Division: Matthews, Kucherov, Karlsson and Rask.
With Price selected by the fans as captain, Rask was the only other goalie to receive votes.
Pacioretty and Barkov were the only other forwards in the Atlantic Division to appear on more than 10 ballots.
Only four defenseman received votes and it was Ristolainen, the young, minutes-eating defender from the Sabres, who was left on the outside looking in.
Instead, Okposo was picked to represent the Sabres, appearing on two more ballots than Eichel, who missed the first 22 games of the season with an ankle sprain.

Central Division All-Star Team

Forwards
Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks
Patrik Laine, Winnipeg Jets
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Others receiving votes: Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche; Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets; Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild
Defensemen
P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators (captain)
Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Others receiving votes: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues; Kevin Shattenkirk, St. Louis Blues; Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets; Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche
Goaltenders
Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
Others receiving votes:Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues; Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
Tarasenko and Seguin were on each ballot. Dubnyk, who is among the favorites for the Vezina Trophy, also earned a place on every ballot.
Chicago teammates Panarin and Kane each received 11 votes. Laine, who has been battling Matthews for the rookie goal-scoring lead throughout the season, received 10 votes.
With Subban already on the roster, Suter was the leading vote-getter among Central Division defensemen with 11 picks. The rest of the votes were split between five other defenseman.
Scheifele, the Jets center, was barely left off the team, garnering a lot of support for the season he is having playing on a line with Laine.

Pacific Division All-Star Team

Forwards
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (captain)
Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks
Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Bo Horvat, Vancouver Canucks
Others receiving votes: Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames; Rickard Rakell, Anaheim Ducks; Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Defensemen
Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Others receiving votes: Cam Fowler; Anaheim Ducks
Goaltenders
Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
Peter Budaj, Los Angeles Kings
Others receiving votes: Cam Talbot, Edmonton Oilers; Ryan Miller, Vancouver Canucks
There was little debate on what the Pacific Division team would look like.
Carter, Kesler, and Pavelski all received unanimous support and Gaudreau earned 11 votes with nine players getting votes for the five forward spots after McDavid.
Four defensemen were chosen to fill out three spots and Burns and Ekman-Larsson were on all 12 ballots. Doughty, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, edged out Fowler, 7-5 for the other spot.
In goal, Jones earned a unanimous nomination, but it was a close call between Talbot and Budaj for the other spot. Budaj, the journeyman who stepped in when Jonathan Quick was injured, ended up getting seven votes to take the second spot.