All-Star rosters begin to take shape

NEW YORK » Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will be two of the four team captains at the NHL AllStar Weekend next month in San Jose.

McDavid ( Pacific Division), Matthews (Atlantic), Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (Central) and Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin ( Metropolitan) won fan votes to earn the captaincies and the first roster spots for the event, Jan. 25-26.

Matthews will make his third All- Star appearance and first as captain, while McDavid will captain the Pacific Division for the third time in as many appearances.

MacKinnon is heading to All-Star Weekend for the third time, while Ovechkin makes his eighth appearance.

The rest of the All- Stars will be determined by the NHL’s hockey operations department.

The head coach of the team with the highest points percentage ( points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions at the halfway point of the regular season will guide the respective All-Star rosters.

All- Star Weekend will feature a three-game tour- nament in a 3-on-3 format. CANADIENS’ PRICE OUT » Montreal goalie Carey Price will miss the Canadiens’ three-game trip because of a lower-body injury.

The Canadiens said Thursday that Price will not travel to Florida. The Canadiens play the Panthers tonight, are at NHLleading Tampa Bay on Saturday night, and at Dallas on Monday night.

Price is 15-10- 4 with a 2.84 goals-against average in 30 games this season.

The Canadiens will likely look to former Shark Antti Niemi on the trip. He’s 4-3-1 with a 4.14 GAA. PENGUINS SIGN GUENTZEL TO EXTENSION » The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed forward Jake Guentzel to a five-year, $30 million contract extension.

The extension runs through 2023-24.

The 24-year- old Guentzel joined the team midway through the 2016-17 season, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. He led all players in the playoffs that season with 13 goals, second-most by a rookie in league history. He had 21 points to tie the NHL rookie record and five game-winning goals to set an NHL rookie mark. During the playoffs last season, he had 10 goals and 11 assists in 12 games.

A third-round pick in 2013, he has 15 goals and 18 assists in 36 games.