As part of the festivities at the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend, the league has brought back the player draft!
The four teams — Team Matthews (captain Auston Matthews and assistant Morgan Rielly), Team McDavid (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl), Team MacKinnon (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar) and Team Hughes (co-captained by Quinn Hughes and Jack Hughes, assistant captain Elias Pettersson) — will select the remainder of their teams, playground style, on Thursday night (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and ESPN+).
For a preview of how the process could go, we assigned an ESPN reporter to each team for our first-ever NHL All-Star mock draft.
Who went first? Who went last? And which of their teams looks the strongest headed into Saturday’s All-Star Game? Read on.
Team Matthews
Drafted by: Kristen Shilton
Captain: Auston Matthews | Asst. captain: Morgan Rielly
Why my team will win: Let’s be honest, the pure skill level of this group is unmatched. It’s just top-tier, high-scoring wingers and some of the best centers in the game — who also happen to be playing lights out right now.
These players will also capitalize on their familiarity by having Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly and Mitchell Marner all together on the ice (in various combinations), torturing their peers just like they’ve been doing the past seven seasons in Toronto. Plus, we’ve got the best goalie in the game right now — Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko — backed up by one of the rising stars at the position in Jake Oettinger (for whom even a “down” season is better than most). Overall, it’s just a good mix.
My biggest concerns: Is there too much talent? Too many puck hogs? Too many guys who will either want to show off themselves or become too deferential to their teammates?
My goal was to take the best players who fell to me at each position. Every skater can make plays and put pucks in the net, but if there is any call for defensive efforts, well, that won’t be our bread and butter. Then again, who are we kidding? That’s not what happens in an All-Star Game!
Nevertheless, I do worry that we might run into a too-many-cooks situation; that is what happens frequently in an All-Star Game. But hey, these are champagne problems — as another world-famous, good-at-everything-she-does human (aka Taylor Swift) would sing for us.
Team McDavid
Drafted by: Emily Kaplan
Captain: Connor McDavid | Asst. captain: Leon Draisaitl
Why my team will win: My team is sick; I don’t know how we could lose. We have the best player in the world (Connor McDavid), two legitimate MVP candidates (David Pastrnak, Sam Reinhart), two of the NHL’s most underrated superstars (Leon Draisaitl, Kyle Connor), two absolute snipers (Brock Boeser, Alex DeBrincat) and the best faceoff guy in the league this season (Vincent Trocheck), who is going to win us possession.
If everyone commits to a little backchecking, we’re a dominant force. And even if they don’t, we’ll probably outscore everyone anyway.
My biggest concerns: I love goalies. I love that Jeremy Swayman was the first goalie I picked; not only is he one of the game’s purest personalities (very important in All-Star festivities) but he has been ridiculously good for Boston, one of the best teams in the league. He’s earning himself a massive contract after going through the uncomfortable arbitration process last summer.
That said, I should’ve shifted my strategy to picking goalies last and getting a few more skill players in the middle rounds. Goalies are moot in All-Star Games. But hey, at least Swayman will make the guys laugh back there; he’s always keeping it loose during games. One can only imagine how he’ll show up in an event like this.
Team MacKinnon
Drafted by: Ryan S. Clark
Captain: Nathan MacKinnon | Asst. captain: Cale Makar
Why my team will win: Aside from what my leadership group, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, provides, it’s about the potential this team presents. Sidney Crosby and Jesper Bratt can drive play. Rasmus Dahlin can eat minutes along with Makar and facilitate play while keeping possession. Filip Forsberg can be used with anyone to generate scoring chances, while Oliver Bjorkstrand, Elias Lindholm and Tomas Hertl can provide a two-way presence.
This team also has a goalie tandem — Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin — that has experience facing high-danger chances.
My biggest concerns: So, about that goaltending. Georgiev and Shesterkin are not having the sort of seasons that people are used to seeing.
Georgiev’s .898 save percentage is well below the .918 he posted last season, when he won 40 games. Shesterkin’s .899 save percentage is also on pace to be the lowest of his career. This could be the difference between winning or having an early exit and hitting up Nino d’Aversa.
Team Hughes
Drafted by: Greg Wyshynski
Co-captain: Quinn Hughes | Co-captain: Jack Hughes | Asst. captain: Elias Pettersson
Why my team will win: My goal was to bring together a disparate collection of players who could still have incredible chemistry together. Originally, that plan included Jack and Quinn Hughes on the ice together — alas, Jack’s injury has relegated him to general manager only.
But now I get Canucks chemistry (Hughes, Pettersson) and Russian chemistry (Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov) and ‘Merican chemistry (Brady Tkachuk, Clayton Keller) as the foundation of my team. And if all else fails, I’ve got the best goalie in the NHL in Connor Hellebuyck. I just need to find a way to trick Sergei Bobrovsky into thinking it’s the playoffs.
My biggest concerns: Building a team around Jack Hughes and then not having Jack Hughes can be a problem, as Lindy Ruff can tell you. Also, I’m Leaf-less. That’s a bit of a concern given that the game is in Toronto and local heroes usually thrive in these things.
Plus there’s a chance that my goaltenders — as great as they are — will simply decide that playing up to standards in an exhibition game designed for offense isn’t worth the potential groin tear. But hey, at least I have Tom Wilson on my roster in a game that doesn’t have hitting or fighting.