Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has been given the nod for another trip to the NHL All-Star. This will be the fifth All-Star selection of his career.
Kucherov played in last year’s All-Star Game and previously played in three straight All-Star Games from 2017 to 2019.
With this selection, Kucherov passes Vincent Lecavalier for third in franchise history for All-Star appearances by a Lightning skater; goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy also has five. He trails former captain Martin St. Louis (six) and current captain Steven Stamkos (seven) for the second-most and most All-Star appearances in franchise history.
Kucherov’s selection should come as no surprise. He leads the NHL in points (63), making him the frontrunner for the Art Ross Trophy, which he took home in 2019 along with the Hart Trophy. He’s also second in the league in goals (27) and tied for third in assists (36).
The NHL All-Star Game will be held on Saturday, Feb. 3, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. This year’s edition will feature the return of the player draft, which was part of the All-Star Game in 2011, 2012 and 2015 (There were no All-Star Games in 2013 and 2014 due to the 2013 Lockout and the 2014 Winter Olympics, respectively).
The league will select four captains, and those captains will be partnered with a celebrity. These pairs will select the players to build the All-Star teams. This will be the first time that the player draft will be in the same All-Star Game as the 3-on-3 format that has been used since 2016.
The player draft will be part of the expanded All-Star Weekend. Along with the Skills Competition on Friday and the All-Star Game on Saturday, there will be NHL All-Star Thursday, when the draft will take place.
Each pair will draft a team from a pool of 44 players. Thirty-two were selected on Thursday night. Each team is guaranteed at least one participant in the All-Star Game. The captains and celebrities have yet to be announced.
With 12 spots remaining, which are selected by a fan vote, it is still possible that Kucherov could be joined by at least one of his teammates on his trip to Toronto.
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