Toronto Maple Leafs v Los Angeles Kings — 10 biggest snubs from the NHL All-Star Game 2024 feat. William Nylander

10 biggest snubs from the NHL All-Star Game 2024 feat. William Nylander

Modified Jan 06, 2024 00:34 GMT

On Thursday night, the NHL unveiled the 32 selections for the upcoming All-Star Game, held at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, on Feb. 3, 2024. Initially, these rosters are built with one player from each franchise, as the league uses this as a guide to showcase every team at that annual event.

However, picking just one player from each team is troublesome, especially when so many elite teams have more than one candidate worthy of attending the All-Star Game.

Here are 10 notable snubs from the Eastern and Western Conference rosters, which will be filled out in the coming weeks through fan voting.

10 biggest snubs from 2024 NHL All-Star Game

#10. Blake Coleman (Calgary Flames)

Blake Coleman is having a career year with the Calgary Flames, who are trying to claw back into the Western Conference wildcard picture. Despite leading the team in scoring with 15 goals, 14 assists, 29 points, and a plus-17 rating, the NHL selected his teammate Elias Lindholm for the All-Star Game, who is fourth in team scoring.

After just 38 games, Coleman is nine points away from setting a new career high, while Lindholm is the player most likely traded away from the team in March.

#9. Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)

Joe Pavelski may not be the Dallas Stars' leading scorer, sitting in second place with 35 points. However, he is 39 and one of the best skaters in the lineup. Additionally, he is on pace for his best statistical season since 2018-19.

Despite attending the 2022 All-Star Game, he's earned a chance to be voted in after missing the opportunity to represent his team at the annual showcase.

#8. Joey Daccord (Seattle Kraken)

At the start of the season, the Seattle Kraken had Philipp Grubauer as their number-one goalie until injuries cut his season short after 17 games. However, Joey Daccord is now the main guy and has been great filling in, producing a 10-5-8 record singlehandedly carrying the Kraken back to a wild card spot, a place they haven't been all season.

Moreover, Seattle is 8-0-2 in the last ten games, with Daccord playing in all but one contest.

#7. Vince Dunn (Seattle Kraken)

Ultimately, the NHL usually defaults to the team's leading scoring if there is no clear-cut choice for an All-Star Game representative. But, when it came to the Kraken's 2024 selection, they opted to pick Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is trailing his teammate Vince Dunn by four points.

This is a more significant snub since Dunn is the only defenseman currently leading his team in scoring.

#6. Charlie Lindgren (Washington Capitals)

Although all eyes were on Alex Ovechkin and his chase of the NHL goal record, he stumbled early in the season, collecting just eight goals through the first 36 games.

Surprisingly, the Washington Capitals continued to win games without their captain contributing, primarily thanks to the solid play of netminder Charlie Lindgren, who is 7-3-3 in 15 games.

However, the NHL selected Tom Wilson as the Capitals representative, a skater who usually leads the league in penalty minutes and suspensions.

#5. Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers)

After the initial announcement, the Eastern Conference employed just one goalie, Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers), leaving the decision to fill out the roster to the fans.

Despite a career season from Sam Reinhart, who has 47 points in 38 games, the Florida Panthers are a top team thanks to Sergei Bobrovsky having a Vezina Trophy-caliber season.

Currently, he ranks amongst the top ten in all significant goalie categories and can hopefully get voted into the game because he's earned the recognition (again) this year.

#4. Johnny Gaudreau (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Johnny Gaudreau has already skated in seven NHL All-Star Games and could make it to his eighth contest if fans vote him in. Despite being the leading scorer on the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gaudreau was not selected for the game, losing his chance to captain Boone Jenner, the 196th highest-scorer in the league.

Moreover, Jenner is sidelined with a broken jaw and has already missed a month of action, making this selection one of the most curious.

#3. Adam Fantilli (Columbus Blue Jackets)

The NHL claims they are all about promoting the game, trying to get global viewers to tune into it. After naming former first-overall pick Connor Bedard to the All-Star Game, the league missed the opportunity to showcase the future by not selecting former third-overall pick Adam Fantilli.

People are saying he'll get his chance in the future, but the rookie is one point behind Gaudreau for the team lead in scoring, and with him at the All-Star Game, going head-to-head with Bedard in their first seasons would have been a good story to showcase to fans.

#2. Noah Dobson (New York Islanders)

The New York Islanders have given up more goals than they have scored this season, with Ilya Sorokin having one of the worst seasons of his career. Meanwhile, three players are battling it out for the team's scoring title, with Mathew Barzal leading Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson by a single point.

Although Barzal got the nod, Dobson was overlooked as the fourth-highest defenseman in the NHL with 38 points. Moreover, he's got the sixth-best plus/minus rating in the league at plus-19, the best total on the Islanders.

#1. William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs)

When anyone skates on a team with Auston Matthews, the first player who netted 30 goals in 2023-24, finding a space in the spotlight is hard. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs owe most of their early success to William Nylander, who started the season on a franchise-record 17-game point streak.

Even though Matthews is leading the NHL goals, Nylander is the league's sixth-highest scorer with 51 points in 36 games, putting him on pace for his first 100-point season.

Realistically, it is hard to pick someone for the All-Star Game, especially when it's held in Toronto. Still, Nylander not getting selected over a player who has already played in four events is one of the year's biggest snubs.