Hughes brothers, Hellebuyck lead 1st projected U.S. roster for 2027 All-Star Game

The NHL unveiled the logo for the 2027 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, officially starting the countdown to the event at UBS Arena on Long Island on Feb. 5-6.

The All-Star Game will feature five teams -- Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and a "World" team comprised of international players from countries outside of the other four teams -- competing in a 3-on-3, round-robin exhibition tournament.

Each team will consist of 11 players: nine skaters and two goalies. The NHL and NHL Players' Association will select 30 players from each of the participating teams -- Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and the World team -- for the 2027 NHL All-Star Fan Vote, which will open in December. From that list, fans will have the opportunity to select eight players from each team. The remaining three roster spots for each team -- one forward, one defenseman and one goalie -- will be selected jointly by the NHL and NHLPA.

Although the NHL All-Star Game is still eight months away, NHL.com is going to take a first attempt to predict the rosters for each team and will revisit these predictions at times during the season.

Today, senior writer Dan Rosen, senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale and deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman give their early prediction for the United States roster (in alphabetical order by position):

Skaters

Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild

Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils

Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars

Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres

Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers

Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets

The U.S. All-Star team could have a golden hue, with eight of the nine skaters having won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics. That includes Jack Hughes, the Devils forward who scored the golden goal against Team Canada in overtime of the championship game, and his brother, Quinn, who led the U.S. with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in six games. Quinn Hughes and Werenski were the only defensemen chosen, but that shouldn't be a problem for them, considering Hughes (27:44) and Werenski (26:37) were first and second, respectively, in average time on ice last season. Werenski, the 2026 Norris Trophy winner voted as the top defenseman in the NHL, was first or second on all three writers' ballots. Matthews, Team USA's captain at the Olympics, was in the top three on every ballot with the expectation for a big rebound after a season-ending knee injury sustained March 12. Robertson, the lone non-Olympian on our All-Star team, led all U.S.-born players last season with 96 points (45 goals, 51 assists) in 82 games. Showing the depth of U.S. hockey talent, 15 players received at least one vote from the three writers.

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

This wasn't unanimous at the top for Hellebuyck, but the Jets goalie who helped Team USA win Olympic gold received two first-place votes and one for third. That likely came because despite his brilliance at the Olympics, he didn't have the best regular season (23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and .895 save percentage in 57 games). That said, Hellebuyck was good enough to win the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player to his team and the Vezina Trophy as the League's top goalie in 2024-25, and he followed that with a gold-medal winning performance that to date is his greatest accomplishment as a professional goalie. He gets the start for the U.S. Swayman was the unanimous No. 2. The Bruins goalie also played for the U.S. at the Olympics. He finished last season with 31 wins, a 2.71 GAA, .908 save percentage and two shutouts in 55 games (54 starts). Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars and Brandon Bussi of the Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes also received votes, as the three writers each ranked four goalies and the top two point-getters were selected.