Selecting The All Star NHL Final Lineup For The 2021-22 Season
This season was a fun one for the NHL. The Florida Panthers dominated the league and captured the Presidents’ Trophy. Vegas fell out of the playoff picture after being in it every year since joining the league, and the NHL welcomed a new team, the Seattle Kraken, to the fold.
This season also saw Alex Ovechkin continue his scoring tear and Auston Matthews reach new heights with his offensive production. This was a great regular season, and coming up with an all-star lineup was not the easiest.
This season saw eight different players score over 100 points, and many other players have career years. It is hard not to mention the great showings from players like Troy Terry and Chris Kreider this season and guys like Joe Pavelski, who continue to play great despite their age.
Not everyone who should be on this list will be on this list. Unfortunately, we can only make a starting lineup right now. Maybe sometime this summer, we can talk about an all-star team of the season, but for now, we are just looking at that starting group.
Everyone one of the players on this list made it to the playoffs, and they were a big reason for their team getting there. So without further ado, let’s jump in with our left-wing on the all-star team!
Left-Wing: Kirill Kaprizov | Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov had a tremendous second season with the Minnesota Wild. After winning the Calder Trophy in his rookie year last season, where he put up 27 goals and 51 points in 55 games, he followed things up this season with 47 goals, 61 assists and 108 points through 81 games.
The Wild were lucky to have Kaprizov as he was arguably their best player all season long. He scored some tremendous goals throughout the season like this great snap shot in the slot.
Kaprizov is someone that opposing teams need to know where he is on the ice at all times. He was someone the Wild had been waiting for the past few years after drafting him in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, but he is here now, and the Wild are not going to let him go anytime soon.
Kaprizov has shown up in the postseason as well so far, putting up seven goals in five games with the Minnesota Wild, but his team needs him even more now as they find themselves down in their current series with the St. Louis Blues.
Center: Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid has to be the center for this all 2022 lineup. He led the league in points, helped lead the Edmonton Oilers to the postseason again, and has been the best player in the league once again.
McDavid is a generational talent that few teams will ever have. He put up 44 goals, 79 assists, and 123 points in 80 games this season. Honestly, reading that just sounds like the norm for McDavid but it is still really remarkable.
McDavid is someone who will probably center a lineup like this for the next 10 years, but when he continues to do things like this video below then I guess he earned it.
I am sure some Leafs fans are upset to not see their star player in this spot, but he is not being completely avoided. (Check out who our right-wing is.)
Right Wing: Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs
I had a hard time with the debate over the center position. Auston Matthews put up 60 goals this season, something really hard to accomplish. Oh, and he did so in just 73 games as he missed some time with some injuries. That, too, makes things more impressive. But at the end of the day, I had to recognize the play-making ability of the guy who is centering this lineup.
That did not mean Matthews was going to be out of the equation completely. Auston Matthews is the right-wing on this team beating out his teammate Mitch Marner for the spot. Matthews’s goal-scoring ability and talent at getting shots on the net have earned him this spot.
Considering he only played in 73 games this season I kind of expected his shooting percentage to be way above his usual norm or his icetime to be incredibly high, however, this was not even Matthews’s best season for shooting percentage or average time on ice.
He just continues to get better every year. I cannot wait to see where he goes from here.
Left Defensemen: Roman Josi | Nashville Predators
So far the players on this list all have been young. They have been guys that could be back on here next year and the year after that. Not to spoil who is still left to come but they too could be back on this list next year. This one player for the left defensemen spot seems like this is his year only.
Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi has had a remarkable 2021-22 NHL season. It is not every year you set a career-high in every category at the age of 31, but that is exactly what happened for Josi.
He was the biggest reason his Nashville Predators made it in the postseason with his 23 goals, 73 assists and 96 points on the season. While I know it would be a bit more unconventional than the norm, I hope Josi can pull out a Norris Trophy win this offseason as he has been the best defenseman all year.
With Josi on the left able to pass the puck up ice to guys like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Kirill Kaprizov, this lineup is the best in the NHL. His linemate only makes things better.
Right Defensemen: Cale Makar | Colorado Avalanche
While Roman Josi is not done with his NHL career by any means, he definitely is not as young as Cale Makar. The 23-year-old drafted fourth overall in the 2017 NHL draft has been in the league the past three seasons, each year getting better.
He won the Calder his rookie season putting up 59 points in 57 games with the Avalanche. Last season he followed things up taking on a bigger role averaging more icetime and putting up points at a point-per-game pace. Then this season he completely broke free scoring 25 goals and putting up 86 points in 77 games on the season.
The Norris Trophy is going to belong to Cale Makar for the next handful of years. While I think it should rest in his linemate’s hands on this roster, I do think Makar has shown just how good he can be.
It is not every day you see a 23-year-old defenseman pull off moves like this in overtime.
Although our goalie in this lineup might have stopped this puck from entering the net.
Goalie: Igor Shesterkin | New York Rangers
Igor Shesterkin won 36 games this season. He played in 53 making 1516 saves on 1622 shots faced. He helped push the New York Rangers back into the playoffs something they haven’t participated in the past few years.
He put up a save percentage of .935, the best in the league amongst starting goalies and he had a goals-against-average that was also really strong at 2.07 goals against. Shesterkin was great every night making saves like the one below.
I do not know what it is about goalies in New York, but going from Lundquist to Shesterkin definitely shows that this team always has a heck of a netminder in the net capable of stealing games.
The Rangers needed Shesterkin to bail them out from some bad rushes or just stand on his head some nights to help keep them in a close game, and he did just that. This is why he is my pick to win the Hart Trophy which the NHL announced their finalists for the trophy on Thursday.
So with Shesterkin in the net, Josi and Makar on the blue line, and McDavid, Matthews and Kaprizov leading the charge offensively this lineup is going to be unstoppable. Let us know your lineup in the comments!