The 2015 NHL All-Star break has begun and that means festivities kick off Friday night with the fantasy draft to set the big game’s rosters. Team Toews and Team Foligno will alternate picks to fill out their rosters live on television, giving us a chance to see how the two squads stack up in real time.
With a pair of Chicago Blackhawks, Team Toews captain Jonathan Toews and Team Foligno assistant Patrick Kane, getting involved in the selections, it’ll be interesting to see which players those two ultimately seek out to play with. The whole thing might not mean much, but at the very least it should be some fun.
We already know Toews’ strategy for the draft: “Just outwit Kaner.”
So if you’re planning to tune in Friday night, here’s everything you need to know about the fantasy draft.
Rules
The two sides will draft for a total of 18 rounds, with a puck drop determining which team gets to select first.
Each team will be comprised of three goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards. On each team, three players have already been assigned — one captain and two assistant captains.
Also, “to ensure the final draft picks are not predetermined due to position requirements, each team’s three goaltenders must be picked by the end of Round 10 and each team’s six defensemen must be picked by the end of Round 15.”
As for the skills challenge, the six participating rookies will be divided into two groups of three. “At the completion of the [Round 11], a puck will be flipped again to determine which Captain chooses his group of Rookies.”
Eligible players
Team Toews currently features Jonathan Toews, Rick Nash and Ryan Getzlaf, while Team Foligno features Nick Foligno, Patrick Kane and Drew Doughty. That leaves the remaining players to be eligible for selection on Friday night:
Forwards
Zemgus Girgensons, Patrice Bergeron, Bobby Ryan, Claude Giroux, Ryan Johansen, Jakub Voracek, Tyler Seguin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Steven Stamkos, Anze Kopitar, Tyler Johnson, Filip Forsberg, Phil Kessel, Patrik Elias, Radim Vrbata, John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin
Defensemen
Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Shea Weber, Mark Giordano, Brent Burns, Justin Faulk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Suter
Goaltenders
Corey Crawford, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury, Carey Price, Brian Elliott, Jaroslav Halak
Rookies
Jonathan Drouin, Johnny Gaudreau, Aaron Ekblad, Jiri Sekac, Mike Hoffman
Injured, not participating
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jimmy Howard, Tanner Pearson, Pekka Rinne, Sergei Bobrovsky, Erik Johnson
(Note: Only 34 names are currently listed on NHL’s official website due to injury dropouts)
Information
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Greater Columbus Convention Center
TV: NBCSN (U.S.); SN, TVA Sports (Canada)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra