The National Hockey League is loaded with talent. It has more high-end talent than ever in its century-long existence. Every team has at least one player worth the price of admission which was not always the case.
The one thing that happens with all of this talent is there are too many elite players for the All-Star Game. There are snubs all over the league.
They want to get at least one player from every team which makes sense. They want kids and fans from all over to be interested which will be easier if a player from their favorite team is there. That makes the snub list end up being even larger.
A draft of the players that did make it is making its return to the event this year though which should add some extra intrigue. They named the captains of each team and the right decisions were made.
The NHL named captains and alternate captains for the All-Star Game
The blue team will be Team Matthews as Auston Matthews will have Morgan Reilly as his alternate captain. Justin Bieber is his celebrity captain.
This is the hometown All-Star team as Toronto is hosting the event. With the two Leafs helping pick teams along with Toronto Maple Leafs fan Justin Bieber, fans in attendance will be all in on them.
The white team will be Team McDavid. Connor McDavid is the captain with Leon Draisaitl as his alternate captain. Will Arnett will be the celebrity captain. Fans of the Edmonton Oilers are sure to be cheering hard for this team.
The yellow team will be Team MacKinnon as Nathan MacKinnon is the captain. His alternate captain will be Cale Makar. Tate McRae will be the celebrity captain of this group. Colorado Avalanche fans will certainly be rooting for this squad.
The red team is a little bit different. Team Hughes didn't name an alternate captain as both Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes will be co-captains. Their celebrity is Michael Buble who is a big fan of Quinn's Vancouver Canucks. New Jersey Devils fans should be interested in this team as well.
All of these players named as captains or alternate captains are amongst the best in the world. They also will drive tons of great narratives that help make the game more fun.
The NHL really couldn't have done a better job of coming up with the players most deserving of this honor. Hopefully, the draft along with the skills competition lead to what ends up being a phenomenal weekend in Toronto.