The rosters for the Feb. 3-4 All-Star weekend are complete, and Buffalo Sabres high-scoring defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is finally getting a chance to go to the South Florida festivities.
Dahlin, who ranks second among NHL defensemen in goals (14) and points (55) this season, was named as an injury replacement for teammate Tage Thompson on Thursday.
The All-Star teams had been named in two phases. The league first announced a representative from all 32 teams, with some big names and many first-timers. The remaining two skaters and one goalie per division then were selected by an online fan vote. That included a Twitter component for the first time. There were two other injury replacements named.
What to know about the All-Star Game:
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When and where will the NHL All-Star Game be played?
The NHL All-Star Game is at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 4 at FLA LIVE Arena in Sunrise, home of the Florida Panthers. The skills competition will be Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast the skills competition and ABC the main game.
Who are the coaches for the NHL All-Star Game?
The following four coaches were named on Jan. 11, based on winning percentage: Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour, Metropolitan; Boston’s Jim Montgomery, Atlantic; Dallas’ Pete BeBoer, Central; Vegas’ Bruce Cassidy, Pacific.
Who was named to the NHL All-Star Game from the Metropolitan Division?
League choices: (All-Star appearance in parentheses): F Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh (5th), F Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus (7th), F Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia (1st), F Jack Hughes, New Jersey (2nd), F Brock Nelson, New York Islanders (1st), F Alex Ovechkin, Washington (8th), F Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina (1st), G Igor Shesterkin, N.Y. Rangers (1st)
Fan vote: D Adam Fox, Rangers (1st), F Artemi Panarin, Rangers (1st), G Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders (1st)
Any snubs? Fox and Sorokin were on my initial list of snubs, so the fans did them right. Ovechkin, now the NHL’s No. 2 scorer, and Crosby are natural draws, and Svechnikov will be fun to watch in the skills competition. Carolina’s Martin Necas should have a nod.
Who was named to the NHL All-Star Game from the Atlantic Division?
League choices: F Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay (4th), F Dylan Larkin, Detroit (3rd), F Mitch Marner, Toronto (2nd), F Nick Suzuki, Montreal (2nd), F Tage Thompson, Buffalo (1st), F Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa (3rd), F Matthew Tkachuk, Florida (2nd), G Linus Ullmark, Boston (1st).
Fan vote: F Auston Matthews, Toronto (5th), F David Pastrnak, Boston (3rd), G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay (5th)
Note: Panthers F Aleksander Barkov (2nd) is replacing injured Matthews. Dahlin (2nd) is replacing injured Thompson.
Any snubs? Dahlin was the biggest snub, but he is now going because Thompson suffered an injury in his final game before the break. Dahlin is on pace to break the Sabres’ scoring record for defensemen. He’ll be the lone defenseman on the Atlantic squad. I would have preferred Brayden Point as Tampa Bay’s forward representative, but Kucherov leads the team in scoring. It’s nice for the Tkachuk family to have both Matthew and Brady in the game and on the same team this time.
Who was named to the NHL All-Star Game from the Central Division?
League choices: F Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota (2nd), F Clayton Keller, Arizona (3rd), F Jason Robertson, Dallas (1st), F Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis (4th), D Seth Jones, Chicago (4th), D Cale Makar, Colorado (2nd), D Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg (1st), G Juuse Saros, Nashville (2nd).
Fan vote: G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg (3rd), F Nathan MacKinnon (4th) and Mikko Rantanen (2nd), Colorado
Any snubs? Hellebuyck and Rantanen were on my initial list of snubs and are now going. Jordan Kyrou or Robert Thomas are the future of the Blues, while Tarasenko is a pending unrestricted free agent who was hurt at the time of the announcement. He since has returned.
Who was named to the NHL All-Star Game from the Pacific Division?
League choices: F Matty Beniers, Seattle (1st), F Kevin Fiala, Los Angeles (1st), F Nazem Kadri, Calgary (2nd), F Connor McDavid, Edmonton (6th), F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver (3rd), F Troy Terry, Anaheim (2nd), D Erik Karlsson, San Jose (7th), G Logan Thompson, Vegas (1st)
Fan vote: F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton (4th), F Bo Horvat, Vancouver (2nd), G Stuart Skinner, Edmonton (1st)
Note: Vegas F Chandler Stephenson (1st) replaces injured Beniers, a rookie of the year candidate. Horvat was traded to the Islanders since being named but will still play for the Pacific.
Any snubs? The Kraken end up with no representatives after the Beniers injury. Considering their strong season, they should have one. Trevor Zegras was a joy to watch in the skills competition, but Terry was the Ducks’ leading scorer at the time of the announcement. Maybe Tyler Toffoli for the Flames, but Kadri is also a good choice after his 2022 Stanley Cup win with Colorado.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL All-Star Game 2023 complete rosters: Rasmus Dahlin named
