Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche want's the NHL to re-think their current All-Star roster selection system, and it is easy to see why.
The roster's for the 2022 All-Star festivities in Las Vegas have been announced on Thursday, and fan's as well as some of the league's top talents are certainly not impressed.
The captain's of the four divisions were Connor McDavid (Pacific), Nathan Mackinnon (Central), Auston Matthews (Atlantic) and Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan).
Joining their captains are 9 players from each division (9 skaters and a goalie). On Thursday, 36 players were announced for the all-star game, leaving 4 final players decided by a "last man in" vote, giving fans the chance to choose each division's final player.
The way the league has the All-Star game designed is that each team gets to send 1 player, so for each division you have 8 teams each sending 1 player, and then 2 extra spot's available.
The issue with this format is that some of the league's top talents have been snubbed a spot in the All-Star game.
"It's silly. I don't think every team should send a guy," Nathan Mackinnon said, via The Athletic. "It's an All-Star Game, not a participation game."
Nazem Kadri, Teammate of Central Division captain Nathan Mackinnon, was one of the league's top players who was snubbed of a All-Star game spot.
Kadri, a long time NHL center, currently leads the NHL in Assists (35) to go along with 13 goals in 30 games. He currently sits fourth in NHL points and shares a Points/game of 1.600 which is identical to Connor McDavid, often regarded the best player in the NHL.
There certainly are some players on this "All-Star" roster that are highly questionable. And countless players who were more deserving of a spot that didn't make the cut.
Players like Nick Suzuki, Clayton Keller, Jordan Eberle and Adam Pelech make the roster.
While names like Mikko Rantanen, Sidney Crosby, Igor Shesterkin, Artemi Panarin, Jacob Markstrom, Quinn Hughes, JT Miller, Jake Guentzel, Anze Kopitar, Nazem Kadri, Brad Marchand, Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos sit at home.
I fully expect Nazem Kadri will be selected as a last-man in for the Central Division, however, this still leave's out plenty of deserving players who should be representing their division in Vegas next month. it's time the NHL changes their format once and for all.
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