The biggest snubs and surprise picks for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game

Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

We’re just under a month away from the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, which is slated to take place in Toronto on February 3.

The first 32 All-Stars were selected by the league and revealed on Thursday night. This year’s event marks the return of the ever-popular fantasy draft format, in which four captains will select from the pool of players selected to attend.

Fans are now able to vote online to choose players for the final 12 All-Star spots. With the event taking place at Scotiabank Arena, it may seem like a mild surprise to see Auston Matthews be the lone Toronto Maple Leafs representative, but the initial roster choices required only one player from each team. The public now has its chance to vote in the likes of William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly, or whomever else they deem worthy of All-Star honors.

The full list of 32 players already selected to attend the All-Star Game can be found here. Let’s take a look at that ensemble to determine which players were snubbed and which others stand out as surprise selections.

Snubs

Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks — This is where the silly “one player per team” rule comes into full effect. The Canucks are the NHL’s best story this season and, as a result, they’re chock full of worthy All-Star candidates. Team captain Quinn Hughes was a perfectly fine pick — All-Star teams do need defensemen and goalies, after all — but it’s kind of wild that a guy like Pettersson, who is currently tied in points with Jack Hughes, Auston Matthews, and Cale Makar, couldn’t make the cut. He has to be one of the fan vote favorites.

Anze Kopitar, L.A. Kings — We’ll get to who will actually represent the Kings in just a minute, but … c’mon! Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, and Drew Doughty have been the main drivers behind the Kings’ terrific start to the 2023–24 season. L.A. has just nine regulation losses in 35 games this year. Kopitar has never gotten enough respect for being one of the best two-way players in NHL history — neither he nor Patrice Bergeron was named to that absurd NHL 100 list — and his omission from this year’s All-Star Game just furthers that trend.

Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche — Again, this snub is a testament to the limitation of the NHL’s format. Makar and Quinn Hughes are by far and away the frontrunners for the Norris Trophy, awarded each year to the league’s top defenseman. As of now, only one of them is going to the All-Star Game. Makar is as dominant a defender as there has ever been in the modern era of the NHL. He’s already won the Norris and the Stanley Cup and is on pace for 102 points this year. Dude, where’s Makar?

William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs — Yes, Auston Matthews leads the NHL in goals, but Nylander is sixth in the entire league in points. Four of the five guys ahead of him are going to the All-Star Game, and the only reason Artemi Panarin can’t is because his wife is expecting. Mostly because of how good his teammates have always been, Nylander has never been an All-Star. But he’s on pace for 116 points this season and is in line for an enormous contract extension with the Leafs, if he chooses to sign. He should, and probably will, be voted in — the game’s in Toronto, after all.

Surprises

Boone Jenner, Columbus Blue Jackets — The All-Star Game is, in its essence, a marketing gimmick. But with all due respect to Jenner, what marketing (or hockey) purpose does it serve to send a player who is currently tied for seventh in scoring … on the Blue Jackets? Jenner and Justin Danforth both have 18 points this season. But at least Danforth is healthy — Jenner has been out with a broken jaw since the second week of December. He should be back by All-Star weekend, but still. Why not send Adam Fantilli or Johnny Gaudreau?

Elias Lindholm, Calgary Flames — Lindholm is in the midst of a pretty disappointing season with the Flames. He’s a pending UFA who has reportedly been pretty ambivalent about sticking around in Calgary. There’s a decent chance the Flames trade him at some point in the next four weeks. Even if the league wanted to send a “big name”, the Flames have guys like Nazem Kadri and Jacob Markstrom who are performing much better this season despite the team’s struggles. Why send a guy in Lindholm who probably isn’t a Flame after the trade deadline?

Cam Talbot, L.A. Kings — Yes, it’s a nice gesture to send a veteran goalie in Talbot to the All-Star Game. Remember, surprises aren’t necessarily bad! Even so, this was a pretty unexpected selection. Talbot has been far better than most people anticipated in his debut go-round with the Kings, putting together a 14–8–3 record to go along with a .925 save percentage. But he’s more of a journeyman than a star, and there’s something to be said for the Kings’ strong defensive structure potentially inflating Talbot’s numbers. Still, good for him.

Tom Wilson, Washington Capitals — Look, they had to pick someone from the Capitals, and it’s actually rather thoughtful of them that they didn’t force Alex Ovechkin to come up with yet another reason to opt out. But … still. Wilson has all of 19 points in 36 games this season. For comparison’s sake, Nylander has nearly three times that many. Nobody from Washington really merited being chosen.

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The biggest snubs and surprise picks for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game

Snubs

Surprises

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