NHL Power Rankings: 30 teams’ worthy all-star

With Blackhawks already filling out five of the six All-Star Game roster spots as voted by the fans and no more Chicago players expected to make the cut, we’ll go with Brandon Saad as our long-shot pick. The speedy 22-year-old is on pace for a career year.

Of all goaltenders with at least 20 games played, Pekka Rinne leads all in wins (26), save percentage (.929) and GAA (2.00). A slam dunk for a team that is looking more and more like the real deal. (Nashville is a perfect 13-0-0 this season after a loss.)

Hard to imagine Steven Stamkos not getting an invite to the NHL showcase, but a strong case should be made that 5-foot-9 Tyler Johnson is more deserving at this moment. Johnson, an undrafted sophomore, ranks first overall in plus/minus (+26) and has six more points and 13 more even-strength points than his captain.

The All-Star Game is about skills and thrills — two words that immediately conjure up the first-half play of Vladimir Tarasenko. With the Blues’ depth on D, this is a tougher choice than one might think. That so many of Tarasenko’s 22 goals are of the highlight variety makes him irresistible for the skills competition.

Second only to Tyler Seguin in goals, Rick Nash deserves to make his sixth All-Star Game appearance and first in four years.

We see you, P.K., but Carey Price — the third star of the week and Pekka Rinne’s competition for the Vezina — should have no problem making his fourth ASG appearance.

The league leaders — dominant in one-goal games — could fly a few players to the mid-season dance. But Ryan Getzlaf is a shoe-in, and this writer’s vote for the Hart Trophy were the season to end now. Logs more than 20 minutes a game, scores more than a point per game, wins most of his face-offs, and — best of all — wins games.

New coach Barry Trotz calls Alex Ovechkin a “rock star.” He was also named Second Star of the Week and is a no-brainer to be selected for the sixth time to play in the All-Star Game.

All due respect to Evgeni Malkin, but it’s gotta be Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh’s dangerous duo is waaaay down in the NHL scoring race (tied for sixth place), but Crosby remains the greatest active hockey player.

John Tavares is a bonafide NHL stud, no question. But we’d love to see the blueline duo of Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk both selected into the All-Star Game. A combined +12 for a turnaround team, their inclusion would give silent props to GM Garth Snow (and likely make Peter Chiarelli kick something).

Yawn. The Sedins. Almost by default. Sure, the twins’ star has shone brighter in seasons past, but they remain the Canucks’ most talented and effective players and are one-two in team scoring. Plus, someone has to set up all those shooters.

Your favourite player’s favourite player, Pavel Datsyuk. Two-way game and the only Red Wing to average more than a point per game. If only he’d stay healthy.

Brent Burns. Arguably the most versatile player in the NHL, Burns has as many points as teammate Joe Thornton (33) despite moving back to defence. Logs 23:44 per game.

Despite their notorious depth, no Kings player has more than 12 goals at the halfway mark, which emboldens our selection of Drew Doughty — a beast who should shine in a fan-friendly event.

An easy choice here, as Tyler Seguin — whose Stars began getting it together towards the end of 2014 — leads all snipers with 26 goals. Should be a fun guy to watch in the shootout skill competition, too.

‘Tis the year of Nick Foligno, the pending UFA who earned a big-time extension from Columbus and leads the club in goals and points, thanks in large part to the winger’s mastery on the power play (19 points).

A +17 rating (third among all defencemen) and 35 points (tied for tops among D-men) make Mark Giordano a straightforward selection. We’ll be floored if he doesn’t make his All-Star Game debut.

And the youngest player at the All-Star Game should be… Aaron Ekblad. The Calder threat leads the resurgent Panthers in plus/minus (+9) and assists (17). Incredible poise for a teenager.

The injury-ravaged Jets — currently in a playoff position — would not be where they are with the adaptability and physicality of big Dustin Byfuglien, who has thrived since being pushed back to the blue line. Fun guy to watch.

There were years when we’d be hard-pressed to narrow the list of Boston all-stars to one. This is not one of them. “Underachieving” is the theme of the Bruins’ first half-season. We’ll go with Patrice Bergeron — the most consistent and dependable of the bunch.

Phil Kessel. And not just because we want to see his reaction to his selection at the player draft. But mostly because we want to see his reaction to his selection at the player draft. It’s Kessel’s fault he’s the Leafs’ biggest star: leads club in goals, assists, scrutiny.

So what if he has just one goal and isn’t particularly exciting? Ryan Suter skates nearly half of every game for the Wild, leads the club’s blueliners in points and has more points than Mikko Koivu.

While no longer running away with the defenceman scoring race and still prone to poor defensive decisions, Erik Karlsson remains the most star-worthy Senator. Tied for club lead in points (27) while averaging six minutes more ice time per game than the next busiest Sen (Chris Phillips).

Not a sexy pick, but with so many of the Avalanche forwards dealing with a drop-off in production, let’s reward defenceman Tyson Barrie. The dark horse pick leads all Avs in assists (21) and plays more than 20 minutes a night.

The closest Jakub Voracek has come to being an NHL all-star is when he was named to the second all-star team of the QMJHL in 2008. That ends Saturday. Voracek is the NHL’s scoring leader (48 points) and has earned a free ticket to Columbus.

Not just for his quotes or the nostalgia factor, we gotta go with Jaromir Jagr. The endurable force of the Devils just became the oldest player to score a hat trick. He leads all Devils in points (again) and has potted three game-winners for a team that rarely wins games.

Can we pick Max Domi?

Benchmark boy Eric Staal became one of four players drafted from 2001 through 2014 to have scored 300 career goals. The biggest star on the East’s bottom-ranked team.

Record schmecord. The Sabres dominated all-star voting, thanks to Latvia. Zemgus Girgensons — the NHL’s leading All-Star Game vote-getter — made the cut, and he’ll be the only one. If forced to make a case for another Sabre’s inclusion, we’d tap Ted Nolan to be an assistant coach on the all-star bench. Maybe.

Taylor Hall is the brightest star on the last-place Oilers and would likely have made the All-Star Game had one been played last season. With his injury woes and unspectacular 25 points, he might have to wait until 2016.