The Washington Capitals are sending two players and a coach to the allstar game.
Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals, with 30. He is 13th in points with 53. The next two Capitals with the most goals don't even combine to equal OV's total. He has more than double Kuznetsov's 13 goals (second on the Caps).
Ovechkin's 208 shots are a whopping 59 more than the next best guy. To put that in perspective, having 59 shots would put you 12th on the Capitals in shots.
So Ovechkin is obviously very deserving of going to the all-star game.
For coach Barrie Trotz, it's another story entirely. Trotz has been making the best out of a bad situation, but he's made some whacky moves (benching Burakovsky, making Pelly-Smith the right-winger Ovechkin spends the most time with, etc).
Trotz is getting a ton of credit for making the most out of a bad roster, but this is just typical NHL narrative nonsense. Every year there is a team that does way better than it's roster suggests. Every year this team's coach wins the Jack Adams for coach of the year, and every year this team is probably more lucky than well coached.
The real jewel of the Capitals, and the most deserving all-star is Braden Holtby. He is ranked third in wins (not a real goalie stat) and that is it - he is not highly ranked in any main goalie category.
However, the Washington Capitals are in a playoff spot, and they are leading their division, and it is almost entirely due to the play of Hotby.
The Capitals allow some of the most shots and scoring chances against in the entire NHL - and most people don't even realize this because the Capitals keep winning. They keep winning because of Holtby.
For whatever reason, he's not getting a lot of hype this year, but he deserves it. If you adjust for the quality of the team, Braden Holtby has been one of the best goalies in the NHL this year.