The NHL makes it a point to have all 32 franchises represented each year at NHL All-Star Weekend, yet the Seattle Kraken will not have a player participating in this year’s festivities.
Originally, rookie Matty Beniers was selected as Seattle’s representative, but an injury will keep him out of his first All-Star Game.
He’s not the first player to have to back out of an All-Star Game, but the league made the decision to have Chandler Stephenson of the Vegas Golden Knights replace him. That not only keeps the Kraken from being represented in Florida this weekend, but it snubs a deserving candidate.
Jared McCann should be an All-Star for the Kraken.
Seattle forward Jared McCann would have been more than deserving of an All-Star nod after the injury to his teammate. In 46 games this season, McCann is leading the Kraken in goals with 23, a total that has him tied for 24th in the NHL.
I’m not suggesting that Stephenson doesn’t deserve to be an All-Star, as he has 44 points (11 goals and 33 assists) to lead the Golden Knights, but he’s not a point-per-game player, and his league-wide rank in assists is comparable to that of McCann’s in goals.
It just seems odd to me that the NHL would overlook a player like McCann, who is on pace for a career year. It’s especially strange when considering its desire to promote the Kraken.
The league decided to make Seattle the host of next season’s Winter Classic because it wants to have its newest franchise in the spotlight. Yet, on a weekend when the league includes all teams, the Kraken will not be represented.
Not to mention, Seattle comes into Tuesday in first place in the Pacific Division. If there’s any team that the league should want to have on display it’s a division leader.
The Kraken deserve to have an All-Star Game representative, and Jared McCann deserves to be an All-Star. The NHL made the wrong decision here.