NHL Playoff All-Star Teams: Best Players From Each Country (part 1)

 

Let’s have a look at the best forwards, defensemen, and goalie, along with top rookie and all-star team – for each country, including Canada, the United States, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Russia.

The 2020 NHL playoffs have been unlike anything we have ever seen, from the pandemic-shortened season to the qualifying round and #BubbleLife.

And here’s something else that you don’t see commonly: NHL playoff all-star teams by country. For each country, the all-star team includes three forwards, two defensemen, a goalie, and a rookie. Now let’s start with Canada.

Forward 1: Brayden Point, from Tampa Bay. Scored the five-OT winner against Columbus in Game 1 and then another OT against the Blue Jackets in Game 5. He scored all the way to the Cup final.

Forward 2: Nathan MacKinnon, from Colorado. He challenged Wayne Gretzky’s single-season playoff scoring record of 47 points.

Forward 3: Nazem Kadri, from Colorado. Scoring nine goals in 15 games, including five game-winners, he put back-to-back playoff disasters in Toronto behind with a great showing for the Avalanche.

Defense 1: Cale Makar, from Colorado. While playing nearly 24 minutes per night, he still managed to score four goals including two game-winners, gaining a point per game, and a plus-12 rating. Not bad for a rookie defenseman.

Defense 2: Shea Theodore, from Vegas. Every post-season of the NHL has a breakout performer, and Theodore tried his best to claim by scoring seven goals and about a point each game in 19 contests for the Golden Knights.

Goalie: Carter Hart, from Philadelphia. Hart was the only Canadian to have started goalie to make it out of the first round. He earned the honor with a 9-5 record and .926 save percentage for the Flyers.

Rookie: Cale Makar, from Colorado. Makar earned six points in 10 post-season games last year and 15 points in 15 games this year. He holds the NHL record for most career playoff points by a rookie defenseman.