NHL All-Star draft: Matthews, Hughes unite teammates
The NHL All-Star Player Draft returned for the first time since 2015 on Thursday night, as four captains took turns selecting their teams for Saturday's three-on-three tournament in Toronto.
The assistant captains had already been named along with the captains and celebrities in January.
For the final four picks, Toronto Maple Leafs legend Dave Keon handed out envelopes for each of the teams to select at random.
Here's how it went down:
Team Hughes
Captain: Quinn Hughes
Assistant: Elias Pettersson
Celebrity: Michael Bublé
| Round | Pick | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Nikita Kucherov |
| 2 | 4 | Thatcher Demko |
| 3 | 1 | Kyle Connor |
| 4 | 4 | Brady Tkachuk |
| 5 | 1 | Jesper Bratt |
| 6 | 4 | Cam Talbot |
| 7 | 1 | Brock Boeser |
| 8 | 4 | J.T. Miller |
| 9 | NA | Frank Vatrano |
Hughes nabbed the NHL's current 2023-24 points leader with the first overall pick, and the Vancouver star brought his goaltender into the fold with his second one. Hughes and Pettersson secured Boeser and Miller later on but weren't able to bring their newest teammate - a certain trade acquisition - into the fold. The Orlando-born Hughes picked six Americans: Demko, Connor, Tkachuk, Boeser, Miller, and Vatrano.
Team Matthews
Captain: Auston Matthews
Assistant: Morgan Rielly
Celebrity: Justin Bieber
| Round | Pick | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | William Nylander |
| 2 | 3 | Mitch Marner |
| 3 | 2 | Jake Oettinger |
| 4 | 3 | Clayton Keller |
| 5 | 2 | Mathew Barzal |
| 6 | 3 | Igor Shesterkin |
| 7 | 2 | Filip Forsberg |
| 8 | 3 | Alex DeBrincat |
| 9 | NA | Vincent Trocheck |
Matthews and Rielly predictably employed a similar strategy to that of Team Hughes, making sure to snatch up their fellow Maple Leafs with their first two picks. The California-born, Arizona-raised Matthews also chose several of his countrymen: Oettinger, Keller, DeBrincat, and Trocheck.
Team MacKinnon
Captain: Nathan MacKinnon
Assistant: Cale Makar
Celebrity: Tate McRae
| Round | Pick | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Sidney Crosby |
| 2 | 2 | Alexandar Georgiev |
| 3 | 3 | Kirill Kaprizov |
| 4 | 2 | Sebastian Aho |
| 5 | 3 | Tom Wilson |
| 6 | 2 | Jeremy Swayman |
| 7 | 3 | Travis Konecny |
| 8 | 2 | Elias Lindholm |
| 9 | NA | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
Just as we predicted Wednesday, MacKinnon took fellow Nova Scotian (and one of his offseason training partners) Crosby at his first opportunity. McRae, who's from Calgary, drafted the suddenly ex-Flame and now-Canuck, Lindholm, with the team's penultimate pick - much to the chagrin of Team Hughes.
Team McDavid
Captain: Connor McDavid
Assistant: Leon Draisaitl
Celebrity: Will Arnett
| Round | Pick | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Connor Hellebuyck |
| 2 | 1 | David Pastrnak |
| 3 | 4 | Rasmus Dahlin |
| 4 | 1 | Robert Thomas |
| 5 | 4 | Sam Reinhart |
| 6 | 1 | Sergei Bobrovsky |
| 7 | 4 | Boone Jenner |
| 8 | 1 | Nick Suzuki |
| 9 | NA | Tomas Hertl |
McDavid started things off by hauling in his namesake in goal but couldn't complete the Connor trifecta as Team Hughes snapped up Kyle a couple rounds later. McDavid - again, as we predicted - landed the goal-scorers ranked second (Reinhart) and third (Pastrnak) in the NHL this season, so this squad boasts plenty of firepower up top.
The All-Star tournament begins at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday with Team MacKinnon taking on Team McDavid. The other two squads will face off an hour later.