The rosters for the four All-Star teams were revealed on Wednesday evening. The Capitals will have two representatives for the Metropolitan division: goaltender Braden Holtby and defenseman John Carlson.
This is Holtby’s fourth straight trip to the ASG, but remarkably, Carlson’s first-ever appearance.
The Metropolitan division’s captain will be Sidney Crosby, since fan-voted favorite Alex Ovechkin announced early in the day that he would not be attending. He will likely be suspended one regular-season game as a consequence.
Here are the official ASG rosters:
Metropolitan Division
F Sebastian Aho, CAR (1st)
F Cam Atkinson, CBJ (2nd)
F Mathew Barzal, NYI (1st)
F Sidney Crosby, PIT (4th)
F Claude Giroux, PHI (6th)
F Taylor Hall, NJD (3rd)
D John Carlson, WSH (1st)
D Seth Jones, CBJ (2nd)
G Braden Holtby, WSH (4th)
G Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (5th)
Atlantic Division
F Jack Eichel, BUF (2nd)
F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (3rd)
F * Auston Matthews, TOR (3rd)
F David Pastrnak, BOS (1st)
F Steven Stamkos, TBL (6th)
F John Tavares, TOR (6th)
D Thomas Chabot, OTT (1st)
D Keith Yandle, FLA (3rd)
G Jimmy Howard, DET (2nd)
G Carey Price, MTL (7th)
Central Division
F Patrick Kane, CHI (8th)
F * Nathan MacKinnon, COL (3rd)
F Ryan O’Reilly, STL (2nd)
F Mikko Rantanen, COL (1st)
F Mark Scheifele, WPG (1st)
F Blake Wheeler, WPG (2nd)
D Miro Heiskanen, DAL (1st)
D Roman Josi, NSH (2nd)
G Devan Dubnyk, MIN (3rd)
G Pekka Rinne, NSH (3rd)
Pacific Division
F Johnny Gaudreau, CGY (5th)
F Clayton Keller, ARI (1st)
F * Connor McDavid, EDM (3rd)
F Joe Pavelski, SJS (3rd)
F Elias Pettersson, VAN (1st)
D Brent Burns, SJS (6th)
D Drew Doughty, LAK (5th)
D Erik Karlsson, SJS (6th)
G Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK (4th)
G John Gibson, ANA (2nd)
* Fan-elected captain
One spot for each team remains open for now and will be determined by fan vote.
One remaining spot in each division will be filled through the 2019 NHL All-Star Last Men In presented by adidas fan vote. Players eligible for the Last Men In vote will be revealed on NBCSN during the first intermission of its telecast of the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, and on Sportsnet during the first intermission of its telecast of the game between the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators.
From the Capitals:
ARLINGTON, Va. – Capitals defenseman John Carlson and goaltender Braden Holtby have been selected to participate in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game, the NHL announced today. The game will be played at SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday, January 26.
This marks Carlson’s first ever selection to the NHL All-Star Game. Carlson becomes the ninth defenseman in franchise history selected to the All-Star Game. This season, the Natick, Massachusetts, native is tied for third among defensemen in points (6g, 32a), and leads all defensemen in primary assists (22).
Carlson’s 13 multi-point games leads the Capitals and all NHL defensemen and is tied for 16th in the NHL. Carlson has led the Capitals in ice time in 31 of the 37 games this season, leads the team and is tied for eighth in the NHL in TOI per game (25:25). Carlson has been on the ice for 48 goals for at five-on-five this season, which leads the Capitals and is tied for the second most in the NHL (Toronto’s Morgan Rielly: 53; Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot: 48). The Capitals are 16-3-2 this season when Carlson records a point. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Carlson’s 106 points (21g, 85a) rank second in the NHL among defensemen (San Jose’s Brent Burns: 107 points). Additionally, Carlson’s 1.16 assists per 60 minutes of five-on-five play over the course of his career rank second among defensemen selected in the 2008 NHL Draft (San Jose’s Erik Karlsson: 1.47), and his 2.14 points per 60 at five-on-five rank first over the last two seasons.
In 645 career games, Carlson has 371 points (83g, 288a). Carlson ranks fifth in franchise history among defensemen in games played and points, while his 288 assists rank second and his 83 goals rank seventh. Carlson is 30 assists shy of tying Calle Johansson (361) for the most assists in franchise history by a defenseman.
Holtby will be making his fourth straight All-Star Game appearance. Holtby’s four All-Star Game selections is tied for the fourth most in franchise history (Alex Ovechkin: 10; Peter Bondra and Rod Langway: 7; Mike Gartner: 4) and the most by a Capitals’ goaltender. Only four other active goaltenders have participated in at least four NHL All-Star Games (Montreal’s Carey Price: 5, named to 2019 Atlantic Division team; Florida’s Roberto Luongo: 5; New York’s Henrik Lundqvist: 4, named to 2019 Metropolitan Division team; Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury: 3, named to 2019 Pacific Division team).
Holtby has posted a record of 15-9-2 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 27 games for the Capitals this season. The Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, native is tied for seventh in the NHL in wins (15). Holtby has allowed two goals or fewer in 14 of his 27 games this season, with the Caps posting a record of 12-2-0 in those games. On Dec. 2 versus the Anaheim Ducks, Holtby became the second goaltender in franchise history to record 10,000 saves (Olaf Kolzig: 18,013 saves). Holtby has recorded two shutouts this year to give him 34 in his career, one shy of Kolzig’s franchise-leading mark.
In 388 career NHL games, Holtby is 240-98-37 with a 2.44 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Since the 2013-14 season, Holtby ranks first in the NHL with 203 wins, ahead of Tuukka Rask (182) and Marc-Andre Fleury (178), respectively. Holtby is third in franchise history in goals against average (2.44) and second in save percentage (.919), among goaltenders with 100 Capitals games played, and second in games played (388) and wins (240).
