The NHL announced on Wednesday that the Habs will have a second
representative at this weekend’s All-Star festivities as defenceman Raphael Diaz
was named as one of the replacements on the rookie roster. Diaz will not
take part in the main game on Sunday but will be a part of the Skills
Competition on Saturday night.
Diaz has had a strong rookie campaign after playing his way onto the opening
roster. He sits tied for 2nd in the NHL in points by a freshman blueliner
and is 8th in time on ice per game in that category. He is the rookie
league leader in blocked shots by 10 (he has 81 on the season) while also
leading in total faceoffs taken by a first year defenceman (and yes, he won one
of them).
Interestingly enough, Diaz takes the place of the one rookie blueliner that
is ahead of him in points, New Jersey’s Adam Larsson. This year, the Swiss
defenceman has played in 45 games, picking up 14 points (3-11-14) in 45 games
which puts him 3rd on the Habs for points from the back end (Tomas Kaberle has
20 while P.K. Subban sits one behind with 19).