Staal, 33, leads the Wild and ranks tied for 10th amongst NHL players with 19 goals in 43 games this season, ranking T-2nd in the League with five multi-goal games. The 6-foot-4, 209-pound native of Thunder Bay, Ont., also leads Minnesota in points (37), shots on goal (122), shorthanded goals (2) and multi-point games (10) this season, ranking third on the club in assists (18) and plus/minus (+5). Staal ranks T-4th in the NHL with 14 goals since Nov. 14. With goals against Carolina and Vegas this season, he has scored a career goal against all 31 NHL franchises. Originally selected by Carolina in the first round (second overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Staal has totaled 883 points (372-511=883) in 1,054 career games with Carolina (2003-16), the New York Rangers (2015-16) and Minnesota (2016-18).
For the third straight season, the NHL All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, showcasing teams from each NHL division: Central, Pacific, Atlantic and Metropolitan. Each of the four teams will include six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders. The 2018 NHL All-Star Skills Competition will be held on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBCSN and the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game takes place on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m. CT on NBC (KARE 11).
Last season, goaltender Devan Dubnyk, defenseman Ryan Suter and Head Coach Bruce Boudreau represented the Wild at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles - the first time in team history a coach represented the Wild at All-Star Weekend. Ten players have been selected to represent the Wild in past NHL All-Star Games: Marian Gaborik (2003, 2008), Filip Kuba and Dwayne Roloson (2004), Brian Rolston (2007), Niklas Backstrom (2009), Brent Burns and Martin Havlat (2011), Mikko Koivu (2012 - did not play due to injury), Suter (2015, 2017) and Dubnyk (2016-17).
