The NHL announced the final 12 players that were selected to the All-Star as voted by the fans on Thursday night. Each division had the first 8 players selected by the league – with Kevin Hayes being the Philadelphia Flyers’ representative – and with each team having to be represented, it brought about a lot snubs. With the final round of selections in the books, we’re back with the snub talk.
Hayes will be joined by Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes, Johnny Gaudreau of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders, Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. The fans voted for Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox of the Rangers as well as Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders – a New Yorker special.
Even when it was first announced, Travis Konecny seemed like the obvious snub from the Flyers because even at the time of the selection he was leading the team in points with 37 points in 32 games, including 19 goals. Hayes at the time was second with 32 points in 37 games and had been mired in a mini slump when the announcement was made official. The Flyers took down the Arizona Coyotes that night where Konecny scored a goal and added 2 assists – adding insult to injury.
Konecny has already tied his career high in goals with 24 – a feat he hit in 3 consecutive seasons between 2017-18 and 2019-20, he currently has 48 points in 40 games, and had a 10 game point streak that was recently snapped where he scored 12 goals and collected 20 points.
Hayes has picked it up of late after going through a stretch where he scored 1 goal in 16 games. After their loss to the Chicago Blackhawks he was up to 13 goals and 40 points in 45 games, a key cog in the Flyers’ resurgence as they somehow sit 6 points out of a playoff spot.
Fan votes makes this hard to qualify as a true snub because it all depends on which fan base is voting more than the others. Adam Fox was going to be a lock just based on the fact that the initial roster didn’t have a defenseman, on top of the fact that he has 45 points on the season. Ilya Sorokin was also a predictable lock if the fans were voting based on merit because he is easily in the Vezina Trophy hunt this season. Artemi Panarin currently has 47 points on the season – one less than Konecny – but the fans have spoken.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, David Pastrnak, and Auston Matthews were the final 3 for the Atlantic, Connor Hellebuyck, Mikko Rantanen, and Nathan MacKinnon were the 3 selected for the Central Division, and Stuart Skinner, Bo Horvat, and Leon Draisaitl made the cut for the Pacific Division. Some of these names just stand out so much so that it makes you think there was a chance they weren’t going to attend the All-Star Game.
Draisaitl currently sits second in the NHL with 72 points, Pastrnak is 2nd in goals with 35 and 4th in points with 63, Rantanen is 8th with 56, and even MacKinnon has a gaudy 49 points in only 32 games. The new format is tough to fit in everyone who is actually worthy and the 1 representation from each team makes it that much harder. Teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Arizona Coyotes don’t possess a point per game player with Max Domi leading the Hawks with 30 in 43, Troy Terry at the top for the Ducks with 36 in 45, and Clayton Keller leading the way for the Coyotes with 38 in 45.
As it stands for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, it’s unfortunate that Konecny won’t be taking part in the festivities after his scorching start to the season. If an injury occurs or a player backs out – with penalties applied – there might still be a chance he squeaks through.
