Teemu Selanne on a line with Sidney Crosby? Selecting the Avalanche All-Teammate Team;

Publish date: 2024-06-03

Two summers ago, during the quiet part of the offseason, I completed an entertaining, ridiculous exercise called the “All-Teammate Team,” which examined the best players to ever suit up with current Avalanche players.

“What a stupid idea for an article,” one commenter wrote. “I love it!”

Now, after plenty of roster turnover, it’s time to re-do the exercise using current Avalanche players. That means the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom (former teammate of Darren Helm) and Paul Kariya (former teammate of Erik Johnson) are gone. But with plenty of new Avalanche additions since this time two years ago, including veterans Andrew Cogliano and Jack Johnson, there’s no shortage of options for a new 20-man All-Teammate Team.

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To qualify for such an illustrious roster, players have to meet certain criteria. Here are the rules:

With that, I present the illustrious Avalanche All-Teammate Team.

Forwards

First line

Left wing: Kirill Kaprizov
Former teammate: Valeri Nichushkin

Kaprizov and Nichushkin played together for CSKA Moskva. The Wild star won the 2021 Calder Trophy and has 40 or more goals in both of his full NHL seasons. He’s not as experienced as some of the other players on the All-Teammate Team, but his skill should fit in just fine with his elite linemates.

Center: Sidney Crosby
Former teammate: Jack Johnson

No. 87 is the face of a hockey generation and is now the face of the Avalanche All-Teammate Team. He and Johnson went to Shattuck-St. Mary’s together as teenagers, then reunited for two seasons on Crosby’s Penguins. Crosby lived up to every bit of hype heaped onto him entering the league and, now 35, is still an elite top-line center. He brings two Conn Smythe trophies, two Harts and three Stanley Cup wins to the All-Teammate Team.

Right wing: Teemu Selanne
Former teammate: Andrew Cogliano

When traded to the Ducks, Cogliano found himself on a line with Selanne. That line played more of a checking style, which Cogliano believes set the tone for the rest of his career. Selanne might have been at the tail end of his career when with Cogliano, but he was an offensive force for most of his career. The Hockey Hall of Famer is the all-time Finnish leader in points (1,457) and goals (684).

Second line

Left wing: Jack Hughes
Former teammate: Miles Wood

Wood, an Avalanche offseason addition, brings Hughes to the All-Teammate roster. Hughes, the 2019 No. 1 overall pick, established himself as a bona fide star this past season with a 43-goal, 99-point campaign. At 22, he figures to get even better in the coming years. Though Hughes plays center, we’re going to put him at left wing due to this roster’s depth up the middle.

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Center: Leon Draisaitl
Former teammate: Brad Hunt

Hunt and Connor McDavid were both with the Oilers during McDavid’s rookie year, but the two never appeared in the same game. That made McDavid ineligible for the All-Teammate Team. Fortunately, Draisaitl is a Hart Trophy winner himself and has a whopping 537 points in 369 games the past five seasons.

Right wing: Steven Stamkos
Former teammate: Jonathan Drouin

The Lightning have a few core players worthy of inclusion on this roster, but we’ll go with their captain here. Stamkos is an elite goal-scorer and has led Tampa Bay to a pair of Stanley Cup championships. A line with him, Hughes and Draisaitl would score a lot of goals.

Third line

Left wing: Mathew Barzal
Former teammate: Devon Toews

Barzal, who was teammates with Toews in New York, isn’t as accomplished as some of the other forwards on this roster, but he’s a Calder Trophy winner and led the Islanders to a pair of Eastern Conference finals appearances.

Center: Anze Kopitar
Former teammate: Kurtis MacDermid

With two Stanley Cup championships, two Selkes and two Lady Byng Trophies, Kopitar is overqualified to be a third-line center. But, hey, as this team’s general manager, that’s fine with me.

Right wing: Troy Terry
Former teammate: Logan O’Connor

Terry and O’Connor played together at the University of Denver. Though the Ducks forward isn’t a superstar like most of his All-Teammate Team teammates, he had a breakout 2021-22 season, scoring 37 goals, and has been to All-Star games each of the past two seasons.

Fourth line

Left wing: Matthew Knies
Former teammate: Ben Meyers

Meyers and Knies played together at the University of Minnesota, then both made their playoff debuts this past season. Knies didn’t look out of place with the Maple Leafs, putting up four points in seven games. The Toronto rookie has played only three NHL regular-season games, but not every Avalanche player has a Crosby or Draisaitl as a former teammate.

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Center: Jeff Skinner
Former teammate: Gabriel Landeskog

Skinner and Landesog were junior teammates and won Calder trophies in back-to-back years. Skinner has six seasons with 30 or more goals, including a 35-goal campaign with Buffalo this past season.

Right wing: Brian Willsie
Former teammate: Mikko Rantanen

Willsie, now Colorado’s director of player development, went to Finland toward the end of his playing career and was on a TPS club with a young Rantanen. As an NHL player, he appeared in 381 games with Colorado, Washington and Los Angeles. His most productive season came in 2005-06, when he had 19 goals and 41 points.

Defense

First pairing

Left defense: Roman Josi
Former teammate: Ryan Johansen

Josi won the Norris Trophy in 2019-20 and has three other top-five finishes. He’ll be on the top pair of a loaded defensive group.

Right defense: Victor Hedman
Former teammate: Ross Colton

With Colton and Drouin both starting their career with the Lightning, the All-Teammate Team snagged Stamkos and Hedman. Reaching that conclusion was difficult — it meant passing up Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brayden Point — but it puts our squad’s defensive group in a really good position. Hedman is a six-time Norris finalist and one-time winner, and he has a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe, too.

Second pairing

Left defense: Miro Heiskanen
Former teammate: Fredrik Olofsson

Heiskanen went one pick ahead of Cale Makar in the 2017 NHL Draft, and though the Avalanche are more than thrilled about the result, it has worked out for Dallas, too. Heiskanen is well-rounded and one of the best young defensemen in the league.

Right defense: Shea Weber
Former teammate: Artturi Lehkonen

Lehkonen’s former Montreal teammate finished top-five in Norris voting five times, and he captained the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2021.

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Third pairing

Left defense: MacKenzie Weegar
Former teammate: Nathan MacKinnon

Weegar won a Memorial Cup on the Halifax Mooseheads with both MacKinnon and Drouin. He developed into a top-pair level defenseman with the Panthers and went to Calgary in the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk trade.

Right defense: Adam Fox
Former teammate: Alexandar Georgiev

Fox gives this roster three Norris Trophy winners. He’s only 25 and has been top-five in Norris voting each of the past three seasons.

Goaltenders

Starter: Pekka Rinne
Former teammate: Samuel Girard

Girard appeared in only five games for the Predators, but that was enough to be teammates with Rinne. He’ll get the nod as starter for the All-Teammate Team squad. He had a .917 career save percentage, won a Vezina Trophy and is arguably the greatest Nashville player in franchise history.

Backup: Ryan Miller
Former teammate: Josh Manson

There are worse No. 2 backstops than a Vezina Trophy recipient and winner of nearly 400 NHL games.

(Photo of Teemu Selanne and Andrew Cogliano: Debora Robinson / NHLI via Getty Images)

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