The St. Louis Blues have unofficially been awarded the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, but which players will be chosen to represent the hometown team?
According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, the St. Louis Blues have been granted the opportunity to host the 2020 edition of the NHL All-Star Game. St. Louis has not hosted this event since 1988 and will mark the third time that the Blues will host the games.
St. Louis has long waited to host a major hockey event, but recently the league has taken notice of just how great a hockey town St. Louis is. Highlighted by the 2017 Winter Classic, the Blues have also tried to host the 2018 World Junior Championships that was eventually awarded to the city of Buffalo.
This is a monumental achievement for both the Blues and the city of St. Louis but from a hockey perspective, who will be chosen to represent the Blues at the All-Star game?
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The Blues have ten players under contract for 2020 including Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Robert Thomas, and Colton Parayko.
Tarasenko is a bonafide All-Star and is possibly the most obvious choice to be one of the players at the Enterprise Center in January of 2020.
Jordan Kyrou may be a surprise candidate to make the ASG two years from now even though he has not performed consistently at the NHL level. In 11 games at the NHL level this season, Kyrou has one goal and one assist and averages just ten minutes of ice time.
Kryou is profiled as one of the Blues most prolific scorers in their system, and it would take him having a rookie of the year type season for him to make the All-Star Game in his first full year as a Blue.
Parayko is an intriguing candidate to make the team, in 2020 he could be the Blues number one defensemen alongside Alex Pietrangelo. During Petro’s absence this season, Parayko and Joel Edmundson have stepped up and shut down some of the league’s best players.
Parayko has seven goals so far this season and is averaging 24:17 minutes of ice time this season. He has taken tremendous strides defensively this season, and after a slow start to the year, number 55 is settling into his role as a top-four defenseman on the team.
O’Reilly would also be toward the top of the list, especially if he continues to put up numbers like he is this year. He currently leads the Blues in almost every offensive category. He leads in goals (13), assists (19), and points (32) and the trade with Buffalo is starting to look like a one-sided trade.
I refuse to look at 2020 the same way as I currently look at the 2018 team, I may be super optimistic by saying I think the Blues will have three representatives at the ASG in 2020, but if I had to place a bet, I would say O’Reilly, Parayko, and Tarasenko will dawn the Blue note in front of their home fans.