0 – Number of defensemen selected to play on the Metropolitan Division team at this year’s All-Star Game who have more points than John Carlson.
Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang (27 points), Columbus’s Seth Jones (28 points) and Carolina’s Noah Hanifin (21 points) will make up the blueline corps of the Metro squad, while Carlson – he of the 34 points – will be watching from the sidelines. Carlson also plays more minutes per game on average than the three defensemen who were selected
In fact, of all the defensemen selected for this year’s game (and all of the defensemen in the League overall), only John Klingberg has more points than Carlson so far this season, and only three blueliners average more ice time per game (two of which have been selected as All Stars).
Granted, as we noted yesterday, shortened rosters and a need for every team to have representation means plenty of “worthy” players were overlooked by the League, and understandably so… but even within those confines, there were ways to get Carlson in and it didn’t happen.
Not cool, NHL.