NHL 2017 All-Stars for Metro, Atlantic: Matthews, Simmonds are first-timers

We knew heading into Tuesday that Carey Price would captain the Atlantic Division and Sidney Crosby would lead the Metropolitan Division at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game. But now we know who their teammates will be the weekend of Jan. 28-29 during the festivities in Los Angeles.

First up, the Atlantic Division roster, with the reminder that the NHL tries to get every team represented.

FORWARDS
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Frans Nielsen, Detroit Red Wings
Kyle Okposo, Buffalo Sabres
Vincent Trochek, Florida Panthers

DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens

GOALIES
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins

Head coach: Michel Therrien, Montreal Canadiens

• It’s hard given the new All-Star format to have “snubs” since there are limited spots and every team in each division needs to repped. So of course there will be cases for Max Pacioretty, David Pastrnak and James van Riemsdyk up front and Rasmus Ristolainen, Jeff Petry and Mike Green on the blue line, but there are always injury replacement that pop up and open the door for someone left out.

• Sad that Jaromir Jagr won’t be involved again, but he could still be in LA that weekend as the league announces the remaining 67 greatest players in NHL history. Surely, JJ will be on the list, but will he be at STAPLES Center in person?

Moving on, here’s who will be on Sid’s team:

FORWARDS
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers
John Tavares, New York Islanders

DEFENSEMEN
Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers

GOALIES
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

Head coach: John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets

• There’s got to be a way to get Cam Atkinson to LA, right? Some forward is going to pull out and make it so that the Blue Jackets’ 19-goal scorer goes, right? Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin are always going to be your definites to get selected, which hurts the likes of Phil Kessel and Nicklas Backstrom.

• It’s nice to see Wayne Simmonds get some love as he’s one of the league’s most under-appreciated players.

• Justin Schultz and Zach Werenski weren’t selected despite leading, along with McDonagh, the division in scoring among defensemen.

• If there was a third goalie spot you’d have to think it goes to Matt Murray, yeah?

Here are the rosters for the Central/Pacific Divisions.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy