The 2024 NHL All-Star teams are set after a return to the chaotic player draft.
For the first time since 2015, NHL All-Stars were able to pick and choose their own teams for the event.
Gone are the boring, divisional teams of years past and in once again was pure chaos as captains handpicked their players for the four-team, winner-take-all tournament. This year, the NHL’s All-Star festivities are being held in Toronto, with the skills competition returning to a more traditional format for Friday and the usual three-on-three All-Star Game tournament set for Saturday.
Last time an All-Star Draft was held, Alex Ovechkin stole the show with his incredible sign begging to be picked last so he could win a car. This time, the stars were out in front of the fans in Toronto as they waited for their turn to hear their name called.
With the festivities now over, here are the players of all four teams set to take part in the upcoming 2024 NHL All-Star Game.
How to fix the NHL’s All-Star weekend in four simple steps.
Welcome to Top-Shelf Takes, a weekly series from staff writer Mary Clarke all about the NHL. Lace up your skates as we dive deep into the epic highs and lows of this little sport called hockey.
It’s no secret that the NHL’s All-Star weekend needs some work. Over the weekend, the 2023 NHL All-Star Game came and went without much fanfare from the wider hockey world. And when it was a topic of conversation, hockey fans ripped into the NHL for its lackluster showing.
For years now, the NHL’s All-Star events have been a huge miss. The All-Star Skills Competition has become overproduced drivel instead of a playground for NHL stars to showcase their awesome skill. And the All-Star Game itself lacks any sort of urgency to it, making it meaningless to watch as a worse version of three-on-three overtime.
While there’s always going to be people who aren’t going to care about the NHL’s All-Star offerings, it’s clear many hockey fans want a better product to display the league’s stars. So, if the NHL won’t fix its own All-Star weekend, I’ll do it for them in four easy steps.
Sure, not every NHL star is going to want to give up a prime mid-season vacation, but the league can definitely do a better job in enticing players to play along. Whether it be by setting All-Star weekend at more appealing destinations or giving players that do attend some sort of perk, the NHL can clearly do more to make the weekend more fun and less of a chore.
Oh, and while we’re at it, get rid of the one player per team rule. Keep a representative or two around for the host city but other than that, invite only the NHL’s superstars that people want to watch.
2. Bring back the player draft
The best part of NHL All-Star weekend used to be the antics between players during the All-Star team draft. Remember when Alex Ovechkin wanted to get drafted last so he could win a car? This is what they took from us!
The NBA has a player draft for its All-Star Game and it works wonderfully. Sure, the NHL may not have the same level of personality as the NBA, but the draft still was a fun time when it was around. Do you want to market your stars better, NHL? This is how you do it.
3. Keep it simple, stupid
In recent years, the NHL has gotten way too deep into the gimmick events for the skills competition. No one wants to see NHL players golfing with hockey sticks and pucks. I feel like I speak for hockey fans everywhere when I say the breakaway challenge, accuracy shooting, and hardest shot events are the most enjoyable to watch for their simplicity and immediate relation to the sport.
If the NHL wants to mix things up, adding in a goalie goal competition — with no gimmicks — or interesting stickhandling events would be the way to go. There’s nothing wrong with a little simplicity now and again.
Not only that, ESPN’s broadcast of the event has gotten way too involved for its own good. John Buccigross screaming random phrases that make no sense is bordering on Tony Romo levels of grating. Dialing back the broadcasting to be less intrusive is a must for the NHL, or at least offer a separate feed that’s just the direct audio and nothing else.
4. Give All-Star weekend meaning again
No one cares about NHL All-Star weekend because we’ve been given no reason to care. Many of the players don’t care either, as evidenced by their lack of effort on the ice. No one’s asking for Stanley Cup Playoffs level of effort here, but the lack of passion is evident with each passing year.
Even with all this doom and gloom, the NHL actually saw a viewership increasefor the 2023 All-Star festivities. It’s hard to say why, exactly, given how uninspired it all felt this year, but something the NHL is doing is working.
Still, the NHL has to find a way to make All-Star weekend meaningful to its viewers. The fans attending the event notwithstanding, the hockey world as a whole has no reason to care about the All-Star Game. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Give hockey players a reason to attend the event and a reason to hustle out there — home ice advantage for the playoffs, perhaps? — and fans will follow suit.
The NHL’s All-Star weekend doesn’t just have to be a mindless exercise on the hockey calendar anymore. It can, in fact, be fun, but only if the NHL allows it to be.
NHL All-Star Weekend continues on Saturday when the All-Star Game takes place at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
NHL All-Star Weekend continues on Saturday when the All-Star Game takes place at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Some of the NHL’s biggest and brightest stars are set to take center stage, including established stars like Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Alex Ovechkin, who have become regulars at the All-Star game.
We will see some new faces as well including Jason Robertson, Adam Fox, and Tage Thompson. These young players bring fresh energy and a new level of excitement to the All-Star Game, and fans are eager to see what they have to offer.
This will definitely be a fun afternoon with your favorite NHL players, here is everything you need to know to stream the All-Star Game.
NHL odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Central (-125) vs. Pacific (+105)
Metropolitan (+105) vs. Atlantic (-125)
Want some action on the NHL? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ at Tipico Sportsbook.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
NHL All-Star Weekend continues on Saturday when the All-Star Game takes place from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NHL All-Star Weekend continues on Saturday when the All-Star Game takes place from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The stars will be out this afternoon when they take the ice in the 2022 NHL All-Star game. Auston Matthews will captain the Atlantic Division, while Claude Giroux will head the Metropolitan Division, and Kyle Connor leading the Central Division with Connor McDavid holding the Pacific Division strong.
This will definitely be a fun afternoon with your favorite NHL players, here is everything you need to know to stream the All-Star Game.
NHL odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Want some action on the NHL? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ at Tipico Sportsbook.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
There is no one doing it better in the NHL than Trevor Zegras right now.
Zegras is only a 20-year-old rookie playing for the Anaheim Ducks, but over the last few months we’ve seen some incredible creativity out of the kid. Seriously, Zegras has scored one goal of the year contender and assisted on another, all within the span of two months.
On Friday, during the NHL’s All-Star Skills Competition, Zegras was at it again during the Breakaway Challenge. For starters, Zegras came out in full Peter LaFleur attire, invoking a full Dodgeball reference. Not only that, Zegras went the extra step and took his shot with a blindfold on while being pelted by dodgeballs.
Oh, and for good measure, Zegras scored on his attempt. Just because he’s that insane.
There’s nothing Zegras can’t do, is there? What an awesome display of what his talent brings to the NHL and the hockey world. And somehow, Zegras didn’t even win the event!!! Las Vegas bias got to the voting panel as Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights won instead. A shame.
Hockey fans, however, absolutely loved Zegras’s moves as he stole the show at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition.
What are the best line combinations for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game?
In spite of rampant COVID-19 postponements throughout the league, the 2022 NHL All-Star Game is still happening this year!
Set for the weekend of February 4 in Las Vegas, the NHL will host its usual All-Star weekend with a skills competition followed by the All-Star Game featuring some of the league’s best players. If you’ve seen one All-Star weekend in the NHL, you’ve seen them all, as familiar events such as fastest skater and hardest shot will return alongside the four-team 3-on-3 tournament.
On Thursday, the NHL announced the 40-player roster that will make up the weekend’s festivities, with all 32 teams represented by at least one player. Fan favorites such as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have made the cut while long-time veterans such as Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand were snubbed.
Debates about rosters aside, the All-Star Game is a lighthearted event that’s supposed to be fun and frivolous, so let’s take a look at some of the best line combinations we can come up with for the 3-on-3 tournament.
Watch NHL All-Star Skills Competition Live Online.
No one quite captures the spirit of All-Star events like the NHL does with its annual Skills Competitions. This year is no different as the NHL added two brand new events to spice up the evening in St. Louis. The top stars of the NHL and some from the best of women’s hockey in North America will be on full display in this must-see night.
In total, there will be six events, with it all kicking off with the Fastest Skater competition. In this event, eight players compete individually by taking one full lap around the rink. Simply, the fastest time wins. If one or more skaters end tied for the best time, they will go for another lap to determine the winner. Last year, Conor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers won for a third straight year with a time of 13.378 seconds.
Second in the lineup of events comes the Save Streak competition, which is only in its third year of existence. Here, goalies take turns facing a group of nine shooters from opposing divisions in penalty shot attempts. The winner is whoever makes the most saves. If the final shooter of the group of nine (which will be the captain) is saved, the group resets until the goalie is beaten. Henrik Lundqvist won the event last year with 12 consecutive saves.
If you’ve ever seen an NHL skills competition, you know it, you love it. Eight sharpshooters take aim at four different targets with the fastest to hit all four taking the title. The Bruins’ David Pastrnak won last year, hitting all four bullseyes in 11.309 seconds. Henrik Sedin holds the all-time record at 7.3 seconds.
One of two new events to the competition will pit a team of 10 of the best American female players against 10 of Canada’s best. Three lines of three with one goaltender will compete in a game of two 10 minute periods with a running clock. One fun added rule for this event is any penalty committed will result in a penalty shot.
Another legacy event that’s been around for what seems like forever: Hardest Shot. Step up and blast the puck as hard as you possibly can. Top speed wins. John Carlson of the Capitals took home the title last year with a top speed of 102.8 mph. Zdeno Chara set the all-time mark very high at 108.8 mph in 2012.
The final event of the evening is a brand new and daring idea that is sure to draw plenty of opinions. Players will be elevated 30 feet in the air by a platform located behind one goal. The object is to shoot at different targets with different values around the ice to gain points. Each player will get seven shots to earn as many points for their respective teams as possible. It should be quite interesting to see how this new event plays out and if it’ll capture the imagination like the others have.
We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.
