2018 NHL All-Star Rosters Revealed

By: Ian MacLeod

The NHL Hockey Operations Department has spoken, and the full 2018 NHL All-Star Game rosters have been revealed. As a reward for its strong season up until this point, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be well represented. Forward Nikita Kucherov, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, defenseman Victor Hedman, and head coach Jon Cooper will join captain Steven Stamkos in representing Tampa as the city gets set to host the All-Star game for the second time.

Aside from their team’s success, all of these players have found individual success as well, posting impressive numbers as the team heads into its bye week. (Stats are current as of January 14th).

Nikita Kucherov has developed into an elite scoring forward with the ability to put the puck in the back of the net from just about anywhere on the ice. He has always had the skill, but now he is starting to get the league-wide recognition. Kucherov is currently the league leader in points with 60. Breaking that down further, his 33 assists ranks 10th in the league (2nd in the Atlantic behind Stamkos), while his 27 goals are neck and neck with Alex Ovechkin’s 28 (still good for 1st in the Atlantic). This will be Kucherov’s second All-Star appearance.

One of the breakout stars of this season is the Lightning’s new #1 goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy. Prior to last season’s trade that sent Ben Bishop to LA, it was always known that Vasilevskiy had enormous potential. However, no one really knew what he could do if he was handed the reins as the #1 goalie. I’m not sure anyone could’ve predicted the enormous success he’s had thus far, and he only continues to get better. To put his dominance in perspective, he leads every major goaltending category among all goalies with at least 13 starts. He leads in Wins (27), Shutouts (6), Goals Against Average (2.18), and Save Percentage (.930). Admittedly, a little over half a season as the starting goaltender is a small sample size, but Vasilevskiy is quickly entering the discussion for the world’s best goalie. This will be Vasilevskiy’s first All-Star appearance.

Victor Hedman continues to use his elite combination of size, skating ability, and hockey IQ to anchor the Lightning’s blue-line. The Swedish blue-liner is a little bit behind his career year pace from last season with 6 goals and 27 assists, but that has not been an issue because of depth scoring from rookies Mikhail Sergachev and Slater Koekkoek, as well as veterans Anton Stralman and Dan Girardi. Hedman has shined in the defensive zone however, proving himself to be an elite lock-down, first pair d-man. His 24 +/-, which leads the league, is a testament to his defensive responsibility and offensive prowess. This would have been Hedman’s second All-Star appearance, had he not sustained a lower-body injury on January 11th in a game against Calgary. Lightning team officials announced that Hedman would be out for 3-6 weeks with the injury, indicating that he will not be able to participate in the All-Star game. This is unfortunate news, but the timing coincides with the team’s bye week, giving him time to heal without missing as many games. It is still unknown who will replace Hedman on the All-Star roster, or when such information will be announced.

The All-Star event will take place in Tampa over the weekend of January 27-28.