AHL All-Stars To Be Announced Thursday

ALLENTOWN - The American Hockey League (AHL) will announce the playing rosters for the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic on Thursday afternoon, according to multiple reports.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms had three AHL All-Stars as the host city of the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, and should be in line for another year of multiple All-Stars for the 2018 event in Utica January 29-30th for the annual Skills Competition (Sunday the 29th) and the 3-on-3 tournament (Monday the 30th).

Here's what we do know:

1. The AHL All-Stars will be split up into four teams based on which division they play in - Atlantic, North, Central and Pacific.

2. Each team will comprise of 10 skaters and two goaltenders.

3. Forward Bracken Kearns of the Binghamton Devils is the playing captain for the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Forward Brett Sutter of the Ontario Reign is the playing captain for the Western Conference All-Stars.

4. Providence’s Jay Leach (Atlantic), Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe (North), Manitoba’s Pascal Vincent (Central) and Tucson’s Mike Van Ryn (Pacific) are coaches for the 2018 All-Star Classic.

5. All 30 AHL teams will be represented by at least one All-Star.

So, who will be the Lehigh Valley Phantoms All-Star representatives at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica at the end of the month?

The Phantoms are guaranteed to have at least one All-Star, and it's a safe bet to figure that forward Phil Varone is a near-lock to be an AHL All-Star this season. Heading into 2018, Varone is tied for 2nd in the AHL in scoring with 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) in 35 games this season.

Forwards Danick Martel (17 goals, nine assists) and Greg Carey (17 goals, seven assists) are tied for 3rd in goals in the league heading into January and could also be possibilities for Lehigh Valley. The recent emergence of rookie forward Oskar Lindblom (11 goals, 14 assists), who tallied 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 14 December games, could be enough for an AHL All-Star nod as well.

Bottom line: Expect Phil Varone and one other Lehigh Valley player to be nominated as AHL All-Stars when the league announces the rosters Thursday.

Below is a look at the likely All-Star candidates for each Atlantic Division team as well as a projected Atlantic Division All-Stars roster for the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic.

The Likely Candidates

Bridgeport

Forward Tanner Fritz (10 goals, 25 assists) Defenseman Devon Toews (eight goals, 14 assists) Defenseman Sebastian Aho (nine goals, 11 assists) Forward Scott Eansor (13 goals, five assists)

Charlotte

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (14-4-0, 2.78 GAA, .894 SV%, 1 SO) Forward Andrew Miller (nine goals, 24 assists) Forward Valentin Zykov (19 goals, eight assists) Forward Warren Foegele (17 goals, 10 assists)

Hartford

Forward Peter Holland (11 goals, 19 assists) Forward Vinnit Lettieri (12 goals, nine assists) Forward Filip Chytil (five goals, seven assists) Defenseman John Gilmour ( five goals, 14 assists)

Hershey

Forward Chris Bourque (11 goals, 28 assists) Forward Travis Boyd (seven goals, 19 assists) Defenseman Aaron Ness (two goals, 11 assists)

Lehigh Valley

Forward Phil Varone (10 goals, 28 assists) Forward Danick Martel (17 goals, nine assists) Forward Greg Carey (17 goals, seven assists) Forward Oskar Lindblom (11 goals, 14 assists)

Providence

Goaltender Jordan Binnington (9-1-1, 1.59 GAA, .938 SV%, 1 SO) Forward Austin Czarnik (nine goals, 19 assists) Forward Kenny Agostino (eight goals, 15 assists) Forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (10 goals, 10 assists)

Springfield

Forward Curtis Valk (nine goals, 19 assists) Forward Alexandre Grenier (eight goals, 19 assists) Forward Anthony Greco (12 goals, eight assists)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Forward Daniel Sprong (18 goals, 10 assists) Forward Teddy Blueger (nine goals, 10 assists) Forward Dominik Simon (four goals, 13 assists)

Projected Atlantic Division All-Stars Roster

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington (Providence) and Alex Nedeljkovic (Charlotte)

Defensemen: Sebastian Aho (Bridgeport), John Gilmour (Hartford) and Devin Toews (Bridgeport)

Forwards: Chris Bourque (Hershey), Warren Foegele (Charlotte), Danick Martel (Lehigh Valley), Daniel Sprong (W-B/Scranton), Curtis Valk (Springfield), Phil Varone (Lehigh Valley) and Valentin Zykov (Charlotte)

Enter who you would pick to the Atlantic Division All-Star roster in the comments!