It was widely assumed last year’s draft class would be a special one -- just maybe not this quickly.
But it’s happening, and fast.
On Tuesday, the NHL released the remaining rosters for the 2017 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, and the first two picks of the 2016 draft -- Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine -- were named, becoming the only two rookies voted into this year’s event.
Laine, 18, is in his first campaign with Winnipeg and currently sits second in the NHL in goals with 21. He also leads all rookies in scoring -- yes, ahead of Matthews -- with 37, and is tied for 13th in league scoring and has the team lead in points, tied with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers.
Though currently sidelined with a concussion, there is hope Laine will return to the Jets lineup soon, and be able to participate in L.A.
Matthews, 19, has been equally impressive in his first season with the Leafs. After a lengthy goalscoring slump that ran from late October to late November, the Arizona native has come alive and is on fire, with 15 goals and 22 points in his last 20 games.
Matthews capped off a terrific December by being named the NHL’s rookie of the month.
Here are the remaining players named to the ASG, along with the coaching staffs:
ATLANTIC DIVISION
Forwards
Nikita Kucherov
Brad Marchand
Auston Matthews
Frans Nielsen
Kyle Okposo
Vincent Trocheck
Defensemen
Victor Hedman
Erik Karlsson
Shea Weber
Goaltenders
Carey Price (C)
Tuukka Rask
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
Forwards
Sidney Crosby (C)
Taylor Hall
Evgeni Malkin
Alex Ovechkin
Wayne Simmonds
John Tavares
Defensemen
Justin Faulk
Seth Jones
Ryan McDonagh
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Braden Holtby
CENTRAL DIVISION
Forwards
Patrick Kane
Patrik Laine
Nathan MacKinnon
Tyler Seguin
Vladimir Tarasenko
Jonathan Toews
Defensemen
P.K. Subban (C)
Duncan Keith
Ryan Suter
Goaltenders
Corey Crawford
Devan Dubynk
PACIFIC DIVISION
Forwards
Connor McDavid (C)
Jeff Carter
Johnny Gaudreau
Bo Horvat
Ryan Kesler
Joe Pavelski
Defensemen
Brent Burns
Drew Doughty
Cam Fowler
Goaltenders
Martin Jones
Mike Smith
HEAD COACHES
The four head coaches for the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend will be Michel Therrien of the Montreal Canadiens (Atlantic), Bruce Boudreau of the Minnesota Wild (Central), John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets (Metropolitan) and Peter DeBoer of the San Jose Sharks (Pacific).
Under the All-Star selection process, the head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through games of Tuesday, Jan. 10 – the halfway point of the regular season – will guide the respective All-Star rosters.
Therrien’s Canadiens (.683, 25-10-6) are guaranteed of posting the top points percentage in the Atlantic Division through tonight, while Boudreau’s Wild (.705, 25-9-5), Tortorella’s Blue Jackets (.769, 28-7-4) and DeBoer’s Sharks (.625, 24-14-2) similarly have wrapped up first place in the Central, Metropolitan and Pacific Divisions, respectively.