Now that they’ve survived the team matchups in round one of the EASPORTS NHL 13 Cover Vote, NHL 13 producers Sean “Rammer” Ramjagsingh and Andy Agostini return to debate who will make it through to the round of 16.

Want to make sure your favorite player gets on the cover of NHL 13? Vote at CoverVote.NHL.com to get your team and your player into the third round.

Let’s roll through the first batch of picks that Andy & Rammer agree on, next blog we’ll see where they agree and disagree –

Tyler Seguin – Boston Bruins

Andy: He’s not as rough and tough as other Bruins, but he’s definitely very skilled.  Seguin is a good face for the city as he’s young and vibrant.  He’s a solid player who suits the city.

Rammer:  I like him as well. Seguin is one of my favorite young up-and-coming superstars.  We’ve worked with him in the past, he was at our Jonathan Toews cover announcement for 2011, so I’m glad he’s through.  I like his style of play and his talent on the ice.  He’s an up-and-coming sniper.

Jeff Skinner – Carolina Hurricanes

Andy: He’s really a great addition to the Hurricanes.  A little surprising for them, but a great addition because Eric Staal is now in the prime of his career and with Skinner they have another young gun who can help him and I think he’s really shown that he’s embraced the city and the city is right behind him.  So yeah, I think he’s a great pick for a potential cover athlete.

Rammer:  I’m a huge huge Skinner fan.  After being at the All-Star game in Carolina and seeing how the fans rally behind him.  He’s a real little Justin Bieber over there.  Just knowing how crazy the fanbase in Carolina is, and it’s exciting to see them getting behind their players, I think he’ll do well.

Pavel Datsyuk – Detroit Redwings

Andy: I’ve seen documentaries of players talking about who’s the sickest player in the NHL and they say Datsyuk. 

Rammer: Sickest player.  Sickest hands.  I’m fortunate that I get to work with a lot of the young players and when I talk to them about the players they look up to, and the skill players that they really envy Datsyuk’s name always comes up.  What he does on the ice is just unbelievable.  Anytime we start talking about the cover and throwing names out there he always comes up.  He’s a favorite.

P.K. Subban – Montreal Canadiens

Andy: Subban is so popular.  He’s young and he’s talkative and people definitely know what’s on his mind.  Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing everyone has their own opinion on that.  I think that he stands out as the new core of the Montreal Canadiens, as the future.

Rammer:  I won’t be surprised if Subban goes through.  He’s a big personality all around, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice.  He’s becoming the face of that franchise.

John Tavares – New York Islanders

Andy: Superstar since fifteen when he came into the OHL early.  He’s a top player.  He’s showing he’s on the verge of really becoming that man who can get a hundred points a year.  This season he was up there, and the Islanders are improving.  They have a very passionate hardcore fanbase and the word is out that Tavares is the guy you have to stop in New York. 

Rammer: He’s just one of those guys who always wins…

Andy: Yeah.

Rammer: … so it’s no surprise that he’s continuing to win even in the cover vote.

Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers

Andy: Yeah I think he’s pretty well known internationally because he’s the goalie for one of the big powers of hockey and also he has a good fashion sense.  He’s been seen at events in New York, he’s a GQ kind of guy.

Rammer: Ladies love his hair.

Andy: Ladies love his hair.  He’s got a very good rapport with the guys who watch hockey and the women who only know hockey players from magazines that they read.

EA SPORTS: Do you think New York’s season is going to help him or hurt him?

Andy: I think it’ll help him, I just think that he’s always been the rock in New York so I don’t think it helps him as much because they finally built a team around him to help him.  But he’s not the catalyst, it’s not a matter of him changing how people look at him because it isn’t him that’s improving it’s the team around him.  He’s always been really good.

Rammer: I think some of the most comedic posts on social media, Twitter in this case, came from the Rangers. Lundqvist, Richards and Prust kinda stirring the pot a little bit.  The Tweets about driving the Lambo were hilarious.   Lundqvist probably has all of Sweden behind him as well.

Andy: Yeah.

Rammer: New York is a big market and that will help.  It’s good to see him go through, I think he’d make for a great cover athlete for us. I’ve had a lot of people Tweeting at me that they’d like to see a goalie on the cover this year which we haven’t had since Vanbiesbrouck on NHL 97 I believe. 

Andy: Yes.  I think that’s helping almost all of the goalies.  The masked man, the guy who is mysterious but he does one of the biggest jobs on the team.