The 2020 NHL All-Star Game features 44 players from across the league. Some of them you’re no doubt familiar with. Others, you might not know. Let’s change that.
The NHL’s All-Star Game is, without a doubt, a contrived weekend of fun and games for the league’s best players. The weekend isn’t meant to be taken seriously by players and fans, and some people outright hate the All-Star festivities altogether after years of the same old thing every season.
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We got close to All-Star perfection during the John Scott saga of 2016, but we’ll never again see a repeat of that story that went from malicious to heartwarming to legendary over the span of a few weeks. Fans have been trying to capture lightning in a bottle in the years since Scott’s story, but nothing has since come close to the success of that All-Star weekend.
This year, the NHL is adding a new gimmick to the skills competition that will see players shooting pucks from the stands over fans’ heads into nets on the ice. The league is also featuring a 3-on-3 game between members of the United States and Canadian women’s teams, in the vein of having women’s hockey stars such as Kendall Coyne Schofield and Brianna Decker participate in or demonstrate the events in previous years.
Though it’s too early to tell how the NHL’s newest events will be taken by the fans, the weekend is — ultimately — a celebration of the sport’s best talent. Hockey is in the midst of a transitionary period, where the old guard of players such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are in their waining years and new players are already stepping up to take their places as the next faces of the NHL.
The All-Star Game dips into all 31 teams across the NHL to bring forth at least one participant, no matter how well or poorly their team is playing that year. The process often brings top names many hockey fans would already know to the forefront, but it also sheds light on lesser known young players who are making a name for themselves across the league.
In honor of those relatively unknown players, here at FanSided NHL and at our network sites we decided to highlight four hockey players on the precipices of their — hopefully — long careers who are participating in the All-Star Game this year. Spanning each conference and all four of the NHL divisions, here are the All-Stars you should keep on your radar in the years to come.
Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators forward
1. Describe the player you chose to highlight.
Anthony Duclair is a forward for the Ottawa Senators. As of Jan. 19, he leads the young Senators in goals (21) and points (33). Duclair is also tied for fifth on the team in assists (12). This has been a breakout season for Duclair, as he is on pace to shatter his career-highs in virtually every category. Since joining the Senators, he has 47 points in 68 games. Duclair finished 10th in the Calder Trophy voting back in 2015-16 with the Arizona Coyotes.
2. What role does this player play on their team?
Duclair has been a huge surprise for the Senators this season. They have a very young team, which has given Duclair a chance to really prove himself. He has always been talented, but struggled to put everything together. There’s a reason the New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets were all willing to part ways with him.
However, this season, Duclair has finally shown why all those teams wanted him in the first place. He has been one of the Senators’ top forwards, proving to be a weapon both at even strength and on the power play. If Duclair keeps playing the way he has been playing this season, he could be a building block for the Senators as they try to rebuild.
3. Why should hockey fans keep an eye on this player?
Duclair is someone hockey fans should keep an eye on for several reasons. First of all, he possesses a lethal shot. For a while, Duclair lacked the confidence to use it and couldn’t really use it that often. This season though, something has clicked for him. Before this season, Duclair never averaged over two shots per game. This season, he’s averaging almost three shots per game. Part of this is due to his career-high 16 and a half minutes of ice time per game, but Duclair has fully earned that playing time and is running with the opportunities the Senators are giving him.
Off the ice, Duclair devotes his time to visiting children hospitals and serves as an Official Brand Ambassador of Special Olympics Haiti. Plus, his Twitter account is also worth a follow.
4. What is your player’s best highlight?
I’m all for more pettiness in the NHL. Pettiness is why the NBA rules. There is so much pettiness between stars and it makes games a lot more fun and allows the NBA to have a non-stop news cycle. Duclair is one of the pettiest players in the league, and I love it.
Back when he was with the Blue Jackets, head coach John Tortorella had this to say about Duclair weeks before they traded him to the Senators.
“I don’t think he knows how to play … I don’t know if he just can’t comprehend it or he’s just stubborn. But he’s running out of time.”
Duclair seemed to take those words to heart. Earlier this season, Duclair proved his former head coach was wrong about him, as he got a hat trick, including the overtime game winner.
In short, Duclair has proven so many people wrong this season. Myself included. Duclair has always had plenty of skill. But it took him a while to learn how to utilize it. Duclair’s having one heck of a season and he’s been one of the very few bright spots on the Senators. Not only that, his story is one of the most fascinating in the NHL. We’re all suckers for a great story and few players have a better one than Duclair.
by Dave Stevenson
More at Puck Prose
Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers forward
1. Describe the player you chose to highlight.
Philadelphia grit. The Broad Street Bullies. Let’s be honest, when you think of the Philadelphia Flyers, the first thing you think of is toughness and brute force. Granted, the 2019-20 incarnation of the Flyers also boasts a boatload of grizzled veterans and absolute powerhouses that can lay the body on, but these aren’t your father’s Flyers. And that is in part down to Travis Konecny, who is at the front of the queue when it comes to ushering in a new, exciting era of hockey in the City of Brotherly Love.
Drafted 24th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Konecny is blessed with exquisite skating abilities, silky mitts, a plethora of dazzling skill and a thunderous release. The winger has been producing for the Flyers since 2016-17, but he’s truly broken out this year and is on pace for a career-year. Flyers fans, you have got yourselves a player in Travis Konecny, who boasts a skillset with the elegance of a fine-tuned orchestra, while at the same time playing with a relentless style and attitude that best represents a heavy metal band.
2. What role does this player play on their team?
Predominantly used on the wing by the Flyers, Konecny is a top-six forward for the Flyers and he’s an offensive juggernaut, especially this season where he leads his team in points (42) and in goals (17), while he’s currently third on the team in assists (25). But, to go along with the elite level of skill and production, Konecny is also a typical Flyers’ thoroughbred in that he plays with a hell of a lot of grit and snarl, and he’s not afraid to get involved in the rough stuff either. In other words, Travis Konecny is the perfect guy to eventually take the torch from Claude Giroux and lead this franchise into a new era.
3. Why should hockey fans keep an eye on this player?
We’re currently enjoying a new era of hockey where bright, young, uber-talented superstars rule the day and reign supreme. While not in the same bracket as the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Eichel yet Konecny is well on his way to securing star-level status, but he’s also not your typical NHL powerhouse.
Very much a baby-faced assassin when staring down goaltenders, Konecny also carries an admirable swagger and is fast developing a reputation as one of the best trash-talkers in the league, thus epitomizing what it means to be a true Flyer. Make no doubt about it, with a lethal combination of heady skill and impressive confidence, Konecny is set to be the poster boy of the Flyers for years to come, and it is going to be one entertaining ride to follow.
4. What is your player’s best highlight?
This is going to be fun. As is the case with ridiculously talented and skilled phenoms, you aren’t starved of highlight-reel moments, and the same applies to Konecny. But I’m going to choose the forward’s rockstar moment against the Chicago Blackhawks during the NHL’s Global Series event on Friday, Oct. 4 of last year.
Picking up the puck in the neutral zone, Konecny waltzed into the offensive zone with speed and all the grace of a Russian Ballerina, while relying on his high-end hockey smarts and filthy mitts to toe-drag and make an absolute mockery of NHL veteran and three-time Stanley Cup champion Duncan Keith, before doing the same to Corey Crawford by ripping a lethal backhand over the shoulder of the goalie. Simply sublime.
by Andrew Steele-Davis
More at Blue Line Station
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues goaltender
1. Describe the player you chose to highlight.
Jordan Binnington burst onto the NHL map last season as a rookie for the St.Louis Blues. He got his first NHL appearance at the tail end of 2018 when the Blues were struggling badly. His first start came in early January of 2019 and it was a shutout, a certain sign of things to come. The Blues would end up hoisting the franchise’s first Stanley Cup later that year. He would also go on to claim a spot on the NHL All-Rookie team.
Binnington isn’t suffering any kind of a sophomore slump this season. He’s got 30 starts, a .916 save percentage and a 2.55 goals against average. A little below his numbers from his rookie season, but still respectable and deserving of an All-Star selection for the Central Division.
2. What role does this player play on their team?
Binnington is the future of the franchise in net and the workhorse. He’s up to 35 starts, which is among the league leaders. If the Blues are going to defend their Stanley Cup, they need Binnington to remain the All-Star that he is from here on out.
He also kind of came out of nowhere and is saving the future of the position for St. Louis after Jake Allen didn’t work out. He’s going to keep the Blues in the hunt for more Stanley Cups in the foreseeable future.
3. Why should hockey fans keep an eye on this player?
Binnington has gradually worked his way up through the Blues’ system. He was drafted in 2011 by the Blues and has put in his time in the minor leagues to get where he’s at now.
He’s a fun story to follow. We as sports fans love to see the player who had to work their way up the ranks to get to the biggest stage in their respective sport. Now that he already has a Stanley Cup at age 26, he can really build a monumental career and go down as one of the greatest for the Blues’ franchise.
4. What is your player’s best highlight?
There are plenty of great save highlights from Binnington already in his short NHL career, and many more to come. I’m going to go more old school with this highlight that illustrates that Binnington has that fire and chippiness you want in your franchise goaltender.
This came in a testy playoff game against the Stars last season. You see Binnington defend his space and fire back at the Stars. These types of moments can ignite your team, especially from your goaltender. A great moment from Binnington in Game 4 of that series, and he would go on to allow just two goals in the final two games to clinch the series for the Blues.
by Chad Minton
More at Predlines
Elias Pettersson – Vancouver Canucks forward
1. Describe the player you chose to highlight from your division.
Elias Pettersson changed everything in Vancouver. Right from his first game when he ripped home his first goal, Vancouver Canucks fans knew they had a special player on their hands. Pettersson accelerated the Canucks’ rebuild and turned their focus to contending for a playoff spot in a season many had already written off.
In 2019, Pettersson would go on to become the first Canuck to win the Calder Trophy since Pavel Bure did it in 1992.
2. What role does this player play on their team?
Pettersson can do it all. He doesn’t require much coaching because he knows if he’s done something wrong before anyone else even notices. He is a player who rarely makes the same mistake more than once, which is why he’s been given such a big role on the Canucks by head coach Travis Green at such an early age. Pettersson is the face of the franchise and the main driving force in Vancouver’s offense.
3. Why should hockey fans keep an eye on this player?
Simply put, Pettersson has the ability to make your jaw hit the floor on any given night. Whether it’s by pulling off the Peter Forsberg shootout move or showing off his elite hockey IQ by setting up his teammates with an out-of-this-world pass, Pettersson is always worth the price of admission. He is one of the shiftiest players in the league and his ability to find open space with a quick dangle and turn of his body is outstanding to watch.
On top of all that, he’s very responsible defensively, and you can always bet that you’ll see him making a mad dash to get back if the other team manages to get the puck. Oh, and Wayne Gretzky himself has said he enjoys watching Pettersson play:
"I’ve had a chance to see him a couple of times on TV. He’s fun to watch and plays with a great deal of passion and energy … It’s exactly what the people in Vancouver needed to sort of move on from the Sedin era. It’s been a godsend for the coaching staff because he’s very coachable. He’s done a lot of good things for that organization already."
4. What is your player’s best highlight?
There are so many to choose from, but my personal favorite highlight from Pettersson is when he set up Brock Boeser for a goal against Vegas. This highlight shows Pettersson’s relentless forechecking abilities, superior hockey IQ, and elite passing abilities, all in one.
Pettersson pressures Nate Schmidt and somehow manages to steal the puck, and from his knees, sweeps the puck behind him to set up Boeser in the slot for a prime scoring opportunity. Boeser couldn’t believe it, and fans still can’t believe it.
It’s nothing too flashy, but this highlight really shows why Pettersson is such a special player, and why he’s captured the hearts of Canucks fans everywhere.
by David Quadrelli
More at The Canuck Way
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