Preusser’s NHL Rundown: All-Star Weekend Breakdown

(Photo Couresy: NHL.com, in article written by Dan O'Leary, https://www.nhl.com/news/2022-nhl-all-star-game-jerseys-have-very-real-throwback-feel/c-329701572?tid=277549086)

The NHL All-Star Game is Feb. 4-5, so I wanted to break down the NHL All-Star Weekend, which teams look the strongest on paper, and the Last Men In voting.

The All-Star Weekend will be held in Las Vegas, so you already know it will be above and beyond all glitz and glam, which I’m not mad about. The All-Star Weekend is always fun to watch and see how players from around the league play with each other, especially since we won’t see NHLers in the Olympics. Besides the actual games, the skills competition is always entertaining, and when players can focus on just showing off one skill, fans can really see how impressive it is.

I feel like the Metro Division has the strongest team. Any team led by Alex Ovechkin is going to be strong, at least in leadership. Aside from him though, the Metro has Aho, Jack Hughes, Pelech, Anderson, and more. Talk about depth!

The Atlantic, led by Auston Matthews, has a solid lineup as well. You have the classic Bergeron and then you got Larkin, Dahlin, and Vasilevskiy along with others. I don’t think they are as strong as the Metro, but you never know in these All-Star competitions.

I have some beef with the picks for the Central Division, notably no Patrick Kane. Don’t get me wrong Alex DeBrincat surely deserves his spot. Kane has been on the roster nine times, and it’s not like he is really deteriorating. Besides the point, the Central will be led by Nathan MacKinnon which is expected. I think the Central has the most first-timers on their roster than any other division which is an awesome opportunity for them. Solid lineup, but probably won’t make it too far in the games.

The Pacific is loaded for the most part, but I do think that the Metro takes it all. The Pacific is led by the obvious choice: Conor McDavid. His team will also include his bestie Leon Draisaitl and any team that has those two together is pretty lethal. The team also has Mark Stone and Alex Petrangelo, so again solid lineup. If I had to pick, I would say they have the second-best team.

I think that the Last Men In vote is a great addition to this weekend because it gives fans a say and helps them feel involved. Some of the guys I hope get in are Lucas Raymond, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jones, and Darnell Nurse. So if you want to vote, go vote!