Igor Shesterkin, Jason Robertson and Matty Beniers were among the 11 first picks for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game at the FLA LIVE Arena in Sunrise, Fla. on Feb. 4 (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS ).
Shesterkin, a goaltender (New York Rangers), and forwards Robertson (Dallas Stars) and Beniers (Seattle Kraken) were among 32 players selected Thursday by the NHL hockey department to represent their respective divisions. One player was selected from each of the 32 NHL teams.
“The All-Star Game is very special, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Beniers. “(Kraken General Manager) Ron Francis and (Coach) Dave Hakstol probably pulled me aside about a week ago and told me that was pretty cool. It was difficult to keep it still though, it really was.”
Goaltenders Linus Ullmark (Boston Bruins) and Logan Thompson (Vegas Golden Knights) were also first-time picks, as were forwards Andrei Svechnikov (Carolina Hurricanes), Kevin Hayes (Philadelphia Flyers), Brock Nelson (New York Islanders) and Tage Thompson (Buffalo Sabers) and Kevin Fiala (Los Angeles Kings) and defenseman Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets).
Forward Matthew Tkachuk will represent the hometown Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division. It will be the second All-Star Game for Tkachuk, who played in 2020 as a member of the Calgary Flames. His brother Brady Tkachuk will represent the Ottawa Senators and the two will be NHL All-Star Game teammates for the first time.
Under the new voting format, the 12 remaining players (two skaters, one goalie per division) will be selected through the 2023 Honda All-Star Fan Vote presented by Guaranteed Rate, which begins Thursday at 9 p.m. and runs through March 17 January runs midnight ET. In previous seasons, fan-chosen captains were elected before hockey operations selected the remaining rosters (not limited to one player per team) and the fans selected a final player (Last Men In) for each team.
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For the first time, fan voting will include a Twitter vote beginning January 12 at 12:01 PM ET and ending January 14 at 11:59 PM ET.
Each fan tweet must include the full hashtag “#NHLAAllStarVote” followed by a player’s full name or a player’s Twitter handle. Mere reference to a surname does not count. All Twitter votes are combined with the online vote totals.
The three remaining players per team will be announced on January 19th.
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will be playing his eighth All-Star game, the most among active NHL players. San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau will each play their seventh. Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid has been called up for the sixth straight year.
“It’s a fun weekend,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve done it a few times now. If the opportunity arises I try to make the best of it and try to bring my whole family there and spend as much time with them as possible.”
The All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament played in a 3-on-3 format, featuring teams from each NHL division. Each of the four teams consists of nine field players and two goalkeepers.
The coaches whose teams have the best point percentage in each division by January 11, when the NHL enters the official halfway point of the season, will be the All-Star head coaches.
Presented by DraftKings, the 2023 NHL All-Stars Skills takes place on February 3 (7pm ET, ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).
“It’s cool,” said Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner. “A few things you dream of as a kid, playing in this league, winning the Stanley Cup and trying to get that All-Star Game. So it’s a cool accomplishment, without a lot of these guys it wouldn’t have happened in this room, really everyone in this room It’s not a one man thing out there, it’s all five guys all the time.
“I have to thank my teammates for helping me through this. It’s a cool achievement but I’m trying to focus on the here and now and when that comes I’ll enjoy it with my family.”
Here are the rosters:
Metropolitan Division (All-Star Appearances)
F. Sidney Crosby, PIT (5th)
F Johnny Gaudreau, CBJ (7th)
F Kevin Hayes, PHI (1st)
F. Jack Hughes, NJD (2nd)
F. Brock Nelson, NYI (1st)
F Alex Ovechkin, WSH (8th)
F Andrei Svechnikov, CAR (1st)
G Igor Shesterkin, NYR (1st)
Atlantic Division (All-Star Appearances)
F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (4th)
F Dylan Larkin, DET (3rd)
F Mitchell Marner, TOR (2nd)
F Nick Suzuki, MTL (2nd)
F Days Thompson, BUF (1st)
F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (3rd)
F Matthew Tkachuk, FLA (2nd)
G Linus Ullmark, BOS (1st)
Central Division (All-Star Appearances)
F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (2nd)
F. Clayton Keller, ARI (3rd)
F Jason Robertson, DAL (1st)
F Vladimir Tarasenko, STL (4th)
D Seth Jones, CHI (4th)
D. Cale Makar, Colonel (2nd)
D Josh Morrissey, WPG (1st)
G. Juuse Saros, NSH (2nd)
Pacific Division (All-Star Appearances)
F Matty Beniers, SEA (1st)
F Kevin Fiala, LAK (1st)
F. Nazem Kadri, CGY (2nd)
F. Connor McDavid, EDM (6th)
F Elias Pettersson, VAN (3rd)
F Troy Terry, ANA (2nd)
D Erik Karlsson, SJS (7th)
G. Logan Thompson, VGK (1st)
NHL.com independent correspondents Dave McCarthy and Craig Merz contributed to this report