The NHL announced the first representative for each team in the Eastern Conference at the 2023 All-Star Weekend in Sunrise, Florida from February 3-4 at the first intermission of Thursday’s Washington Capitals-Columbus Blue Jackets nationally broadcasted contest. Captain Alex Ovechkin was appointed as Washington’s first pick at the event for the 13th time in his NHL career.
The 37-year-old passed on attending in 2019 and 2020 to rest as he got older and missed last year’s game in Las Vegas, Nevada after testing positive for COVID-19.
Ovechkin leads Washington with 28 goals (which is also tied for third in NHL with Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat) and 47 points (tied for eighth) in 40 games this season. He has at least 17 more goals and 13 more points than anyone else on his team.
Since December 7, Ovechkin leads the NHL with 15 goals and trails only Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (25) for the league lead in points with 22 in 13 games.
He has led Washington to a 14-3-3 record since November 22, the second-best record in the NHL over that span behind only the Carolina Hurricanes (15-2-2), to lift them into a tie for third place in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Rangers (who have a game in hand) after the team started 7-10-3.
So far this season, Ovechkin has broken the NHL record for most goals with one franchise on November 5, set the record for most road goals with the 402nd of his career on November 29, scored the 800th goal of his career on December 13, and tied and passed Gordie Howe for second place on the league’s all-time goal-scoring list with his 801st and 802nd career goals on December 23.
Here are the All-Star candidates from each Eastern Conference team:
* C SIdney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
* G Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers
* LW Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina
* LW Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus
* C Brock Nelson, New York Islanders
* C Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia Flyers
* C Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
* C Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres
* LW Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
* G Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins
* C Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
* LW Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
* C Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens
* LW Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
* RW Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
The NHL will announce the picks from the Western Conference squads at the second intermission of Washington’s game on Thursday.
Fans will have the opportunity to vote for the remaining players that go to Sunrise next month starting at 9 PM ET on Thursday.
“When you get selected, it’s a special moment.”@ovi8 chats with @VogsCaps on being selected for the 2023 #NHLAllStar Game in Sunrise.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/rpUKn4oSsI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 6, 2023
By Harrison Brown