Making the case for more All-Stars

Fan voting has officially opened for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. With Nikita Kucherov already selected as Tampa Bay's first All-Star, here are five other Lightning players who deserve a vote on your ballot.
Online voting closes January 17 at 11:59 p.m. ET and the players selected will be revealed on January 19.
Fans can vote on Twitter with retweets or replies of tweets which include the #NHLAllStarVote hashtag and any of the above player's name combinations counting as one vote.
The Twitter vote will be combined with the NHL online vote at
NHL.com/vote
, where fans can select as few as one player and as many as 12 per ballot (two skaters, one goalie per division).

Victor Hedman
There haven't been many humans to ever walk this planet that have stood at 6-foot-7 and can skate the way Victor Hedman can.
Playing with different partners throughout the season, Hedman has continued to show his dominance at both ends of the ice for Tampa Bay. The Big Swede has emphasized how important it is to perform well in the defensive zone and it's shown with his play on the ice.

No player in Lightning franchise history has recorded more than 550 blocked shots in their career, except for Hedman, who has blocked 1,440 shots throughout his career in Bolts blue. His plus-nine rating this season ranks second among all Tampa Bay defensemen, trailing only Ian Cole's plus-13.
As for the offense, Hedman has really started to ramp it up over the past month. He has recorded four multi-point games over his last six contests with nine assists. Since December 13, only Erik Karlsson (18) has more assists than Hedman's 15.
Hedman has points in 10 of his last 14 games and ranks third among all Lightning skaters with 26 assists this season. He recorded his 492nd career assist January 3 and moved past Vincent Lecavalier to take sole possession of the third-most assists in Tampa Bay franchise history, trailing only Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis.
Similar to goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, Hedman's consistency and longevity have been just as impressive as his on-ice performance. No NHL skater has logged more time on ice than Hedman over the past three and a half years.
Once again, he's leading the Bolts in time on ice this season, average 24:13 of ice time per game.
Brayden Point
A third-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2014, Brayden Point has been on an absolute tear for the Lightning this season, especially in the goal-scoring department.
With 23 goals on the season, Point has not only led the Bolts in goal scoring, but he's lit the lamp with some incredible, highlight-reel plays along the way.

Point's ability to make something out of nothing has been a lot of fun to watch, especially when he can do it at such a high rate of speed.

Point is currently riding a nine-game goal scoring streak at AMALIE Arena, the longest streak in Lightning franchise history. He's scored goals in seven of his last eight games and 11 of his last 15 contests.
Point has lit the lamp 16 times on home ice this season, trailing only Connor McDavid, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen among all NHL skaters.
Point leads the Bolts in goals, game-winning goals (6), even-strength goals (15) and is tied with Steven Stamkos for the team lead in power-play goals (8). He ranks third in points and tied with Brandon Hagel for fifth in assists among all Lightning skaters.
Not only is Point scoring a ton of goals, but he's scoring big goals as well. Only Leon Draisaitl (8) and Kyle Connor (7) have scored more game-winning goals than Point's six this season. He's recorded a shot on goal in every game this season and already ranks fifth in Bolts franchise history with 190 career goals.
Of all skaters drafted in the 2014 NHL Draft, Point has recorded the third-most career points (408) and is the only player in the top five that was drafted outside of the first round.
Fully healthy and flying all over the ice, Point has played in all 21 of the Lightning's home games this season. He's scored a goal in 13 of those contests and recorded a point in 16 of them. A key piece on one of the NHL's top lines this season, Point is on pace to record 48 goals this season, which would top his previous career high of 41 in 2018-19.
Mikhail Sergachev
Thrust into a bigger role this season with the departure of Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev has taken his opportunity and ran with it.
An elite skater and ultra-motivated competitor, Sergachev leads all Lightning defensemen in goals (6) and points (29) this season. A huge strength of McDonagh was his ability and willingness to block shots. Sergachev has met that challenge with excellence, leading all Tampa Bay skaters this season with 76 blocked shots. He's one block away from tying McDonagh for the second-most in franchise history.
Sergachev has won puck battles efficiently and shown a really strong understanding for gap control, especially in the neutral zone, making it difficult for opposing forwards to advance forward and gain free entry into the Bolts' defensive zone.

The Bolts are leaning on Sergachev more than ever as the defenseman is averaging more time on ice than he ever has in his career, skating an average of 23:54 per game. He's taken that opportunity and proceeded to lead all Lightning defensemen with 32 takeaways this season.
Playing both power play and penalty kill, Sergachev ranks second behind only Erik Cernak with 101:49 of shorthanded time on ice this season and his 94:37 power-play time on ice this season trails only Victor Hedman among all Tampa Bay D-men.
Sergachev's career high for points in a single season is 40 and it looks like he's on his way to surpassing that this year. He's currently tied for the 12th-most points and power-play points among all NHL defensemen, while his 23 assists are tied for the 13th-most.
Still only 24 years old, Sergachev signed an eight-year contract extension with the Lightning this season and will only continue to get better. He has all the tools, and perhaps the most exciting quality of the young defenseman is that he is truly never satisfied. He strives to get better every day.
Steven Stamkos
After the first 100-point season of his career in 2021-22, Steven Stamkos has picked up right where he left off through the first 39 games of the 2022-23 season.
The Lightning captain became the 95th player in NHL history to hit 1,000 career points on December 1, making him just the 48th player ever to hit the 1,000-point mark with a single franchise. Stamkos was the 43rd-fastest player in NHL history to reach the milestone and just the fourth active player to do so in less than 1,000 games. No other player in Tampa Bay franchise history has crossed the 1,000-point threshold.

Stamkos also became the second player in franchise history to record 500 assists with the club when he picked up his 500th career helper on November 15.
Quietly performing as one of the most consistent players in the NHL this season, Stamkos has collected 14 multi-point games through 39 games this season and has recorded at least one point in 22 of his last 25 games with 32 points (10G, 22A) during that span.
Stamkos ranks second among all Lightning skaters in goals (17), assists (28), points (45), power-play points (20) and shots (129), and is tied with Brayden Point for the team lead in power-play goals (8), while ranking third in even-strength points (25).
In 21 home games this season, the Markham, Ontario native has found the scoresheet in 17 different contests, racking up 26 points with eight goals and 18 assists at AMALIE Arena.
The franchise leader in nearly every offensive category, Stamkos went on a 14-game point streak from November 13 - December 13, picking up 21 points (9G, 12A) during that streak, which is tied for the fourth-longest among all NHL players this season and the second-longest streak in Lightning franchise history. He also scored a goal in each of Tampa Bay's first five games this season, tied for the third-longest goal streak in the NHL this year.
Beyond racking up points, the captain has shown a willingness to block shots, play strong defensively, win faceoffs and lead his team, both on and off the ice.
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Where would the Lightning be without The Big Cat?
It's been another year of stellar play from Andrei Vasilevskiy, who continues to show his excellence as one of the best goaltenders of this generation and arguably the best goalie in the world.
Vasilevskiy has allowed three or less goals in 14 straight games for the Bolts and has surrendered two or less in 10 of those contests. Jon Cooper has said time and time again over the years, it's not necessarily how many saves the goalie makes, but when they make them. Vasilevskiy has been huge in that department, making big-time, highlight-reel saves at huge moments of the game throughout this season.

Since December 1, Vasilevskiy has posted a 9-3-0 record with a .935 save percentage and 1.92 goals against average, both ranking second in the NHL among all goaltenders with 10 or more games played.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Vasilevskiy's dominance is the fact that he has played a shade over 3,000 more minutes than any other NHL goaltender over the past three seasons with regular season and playoffs combined.
The Big Cat has been the backbone for Tampa Bay for several years. His 17 wins rank seventh in the NHL and third in the Eastern Conference. His .918 save percentage also ranks seventh in the league and fourth in the Eastern Conference. His 2.47 goals against average ranks sixth in the NHL and fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Making at least one ridiculous save every game that he's between the pipes, Vasilevskiy continues to show why he'll go down as one of the best goaltenders to ever play the game.