Carlsson led the AHL in goals by a defenseman last season and is tied for the league lead this year

The NHL isn’t the only hockey league ramping up for its annual all-star game.

Over in the American Hockey League, rosters were announced on Wednesday for the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, which will be held on Feb. 4-5 in San Jose.

The 48 players, 12 selected from each division, were chosen by a committee of AHL coaches.

Representing the Charlotte Checkers, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, will be defenseman Lucas Carlsson.

After leading all AHL defensemen with 20 goals last season, Carlsson is off to another strong start for Charlotte this year.

Through Charlotte’s first 33 games, Carlsson has racked up 10 goals and 25 points.

Five of those 10 goals are of the game-winning variety. 

Additionally, the 10 goals are tied for tops among AHL defenseman with Springfield’s Dylan Coghlan, who was also selected as an All-Star on Wednesday, and the 25 points are tied for fourth-most in the league.

"Nothing surprises me with Carlsson," Charlotte Head Coach Geordie Kinnear said, per the Checkers official website. "I’ll give you an example - we come off a 12-day road trip - six games, Carly played probably 25 minutes a game. If you were to ask me who the best player out here in practice today was, who the hardest working guy was - he would be at the top of the list. I think that speaks volumes. It’d be easy for a guy like that to say ‘hey, I played a lot’. But he was on it today and one of the best players on the ice. That’s why he’s an all-star."

Carlsson was selected as on the postseason AHL First All-Star Team last season, but this will be his first time skating in the AHL All-Star Classic. 

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