The Bruins are assured that 1/3 of their Perfection Line is going to be at the NHL All-Star game later this month, and it could be even more if Patrice Bergeron gets on board as the last man in for the Atlantic Division team.
David Pastrnak was selected for the Atlantic Division team for the first time in his promising, young career with the Black and Gold, and it was well-earned based on the 24 goals and 50 points this season. Bergeron, despite missing 16 games with a chest injury, has 13 goals and 33 points in 24 games this season for the Black and Gold. The “Last Man In” is new this season and allows fans to select four players from a list of 31 All-Star caliber players – one from each NHL team (determined by the League’s Hockey Operations Department). The highest vote-getters by division then will be added to their respective All-Star rosters.
The “Last Man In” is a good idea by the NHL, and a direct response to some of the league’s greatest superstars being left out of the game due to slow starts to their season, injuries or simply not enough room on the smaller divisional rosters that are now constructed for the new All-Star format. Now traditional All-Star players and Skills Competition regulars like Bergeron, Shea Weber, Jonathan Toews, Tyler Seguin, Zach Parise, Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrik Laine, Jakub Voracek, Kris Letang, Ryan Getzlaf and Anze Kopitar will still get a chance to get into the game after not making the cut for the initial rosters.
It certainly makes the All-Star game much more of an “event” when name players like Bergeron, Toews and Kopitar are involved.
Voting for the “Last Man In” opens on Jan. 3 at noontime and closes on Jan. 10, and fans can go to NHL.com/Vote to get interactive ballots available in eight languages – English, French, Czech, Finnish, German, Russian, Slovak and Swedish – and accessible anywhere in the world.
Here are all the candidates for “Last Man In” with the top vote-getter from each of the divisional selections getting the chance to join the All-Star game festivities:
Boston Bruins
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins: Patrice Bergeron (F)
Buffalo Sabres: Jeff Skinner (F)
Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin (F)
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov (F)
Montreal Canadiens: Shea Weber (D)
Ottawa Senators: Mark Stone (F)
Tampa Bay Lightning: Brayden Point (F)
Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly (D)
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks: Jonathan Toews (F)
Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog (F)
Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin (F)
Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise (F)
Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg (F)
St. Louis Blues: Vladimir Tarasenko (F)
Winnipeg Jets: Patrik Laine (F)
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes: Teuvo Teravainen (F)
Columbus Blue Jackets: Nick Foligno (F)
New Jersey Devils: Kyle Palmieri (F)
New York Islanders: Anders Lee (F)
New York Rangers: Mats Zuccarello (F)
Philadelphia Flyers: Jakub Voracek (F)
Pittsburgh Penguins: Kris Letang (D)
Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom (F)
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: Ryan Getzlaf (F)
Arizona Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D)
Calgary Flames: Mark Giordano (D)
Edmonton Oilers: Leon Draisaitl (F)
Los Angeles Kings: Anze Kopitar (F)
San Jose Sharks: Logan Couture (F)
Vancouver Canucks: Brock Boeser (F)
Vegas Golden Knights: Jonathan Marchessault (F)
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