NHL Announces All-Star Captains

The 2019 NHL All-Star captains have been revealed today, and there will be a nice mix of old and new leading the way in the mid-season tournament. Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid will captain their respective divisions after outstanding starts to the year. The players were selected through fan vote.

Matthews is perhaps the most surprising, given that he has missed a good chunk of the season with a shoulder injury. Still, the young Toronto Maple Leafs star has 19 goals and 34 points in 23 games and is an obvious choice as a player to market in the United States. Born in California and raised in Arizona, Matthews is a perfect poster boy for the idea that anyone can learn to play and excel at hockey regardless of their background.

McDavid and MacKinnon were easy choices after starting the year on fire once again, and are arguably the two best young players in the league today. The pair of Canadian centers should compete again in the fastest skater competition, given the incredible speeds they operate at every night. MacKinnon’s linemate Mikko Rantanen may have a bit of a bone to pick with him, given that the talented winger is actually leading the league in scoring.

No one should be surprised by the fact that Ovechkin can still hang around with these young stars, but it is still impressive just how well he has performed this year. In a season that some expected a “Stanley Cup hangover,” the great Washington Capitals forward leads the league in goals with 29 through his first 35 games and may very well win the eighth Maurice Richard trophy of his career. Now 33, there’s no slowing down the Russian sniper who has a whopping 21 goals at even-strength.