Will Flyers' Carter, Richards be considered for All-Star Game?

Now that Danny Briere has been tabbed as an All-Star replacement, could Mike Richards be next? How about Jeff Carter?

Richards (two goals last night) and Carter are having solid seasons, but they would have plenty of competition should another body be needed.

At least three All-Star forwards are struggling with injuries, so reinforcements are a real possibility. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (undisclosed) and Edmonton's Ales Hemsky (concussion) did not play last night.

Richards and Carter were among 11 players who entered play last night with at least 40 points but are not on the All-Star team. Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg (51 points) has a creaky back and asked not to be included. His teammate, Pavel Datsyuk (39 points), was well on his way to an All-Star season before breaking his right hand just before Christmas.

"If the Flyers didn't already have two guys and a head coach, there's no question that Richards and Carter are both All-Stars," said Flyers TV analyst Keith Jones, who also moonlights on the Versus network's national studio show.

Some other names to consider:

* Minnesota's Martin Havlat and San Jose's Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton are tops among non-All-Stars with 43 points. However, Minnesota entered play last night ninth in the Western Conference standings. San Jose was 10th.

"You do have to look a little bit at teams that have not been adequately successful," said Jones, who played nine seasons in the NHL.

Richards (+10) and Carter (+15) also have significantly higher plus/minuses than Havlat (+1), Heatley (-1) and Thornton (-13).

* Washington's Nicklas Backstrom probably would receive more attention if he wasn't dragging a streak of 21 games without a goal into last night. Backstrom, with 42 points, is a plus-10.

* Teemu Selanne, of Anaheim, is retiring at the end of the season and could be a sentimental favorite. Selanne is a 10-time All-Star and the active career leader with 620 goals (15th all time).

"Personally, I would send Selanne," Jones said. "Based on his age, his service to the National Hockey League and his personality. He would be the first guy I would select if I was in charge."

* Jones also said Anaheim's Bobby Ryan deserved a long look. The Ducks, second in the Pacific Division, have been a pleasant surprise this season and Ryan, a Cherry Hill native, has been a big reason why. His 21 goals are second only to Chicago's Patrick Sharp (25) among non-All-Stars.

"He's having another terrific season," Jones said of the 23-year-old Ryan. "Plus, he's one of the niftiest players to watch and a young player as well."

Among the defensemen, Andrej Meszaros probably deserves the most consideration among Flyers, but his road to All-Stardom is unlikely.

Meszaros leads the league with a plus-29, but his 16 points (and two goals) are well short of other defensemen around the league. Six blue-liners, in fact, have at least 30 points and are not going to next Sunday's All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C. There's a guy in Phoenix who would be Jones' first choice.

"Keith Yandle should be an All-Star, without question," Jones said emphatically. "He's leading his team in points [37], playing a ton of ice [average 24:23] and is the one guy on their back end that jumps out at you. That is the one guy that is missing that should be there."

There never will be a process that makes everybody happy, but that's part of the charm of it all. While the rest of us debate, those on the fringes will wait. Maybe Richards and Carter will join Briere, Laviolette and Claude Giroux. Or maybe they won't.

"The list is not that deep, so there's no question that Richards and Carter [will be in the conversation]," Jones said. "It wouldn't surprise me for a second if they got asked."