Jack Eichel is going to be missing from the Vegas Golden Knights lineup for a few weeks coming up. The defending Stanley Cup champions have missed their star player and it will be a while before he comes back.
Connor Bedard has been missing from the Chicago Blackhawks lineup since the early stages of January. The 2023 number-one pick in the draft has been as exciting as possible since entering the league as an 18-year-old but he has a fractured jaw that needed surgery.
Eichel has played in 42 games where he has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points in 42 games played. It has been a remarkable follow-up to last year which went amazing for him.
Bedard has 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 39 games played on a very bad Chicago Blackhawks team. Even with his injury, the Calder Trophy is looking good for him.
Connor Bedard and Jack Eichel have been replaced as NHL All-Stars
Unfortunately, both of their injuries are causing them to miss the All-Star Game. Each guy was their team's lone representative so many thought someone from their team would replace them.
That is not the case though as two replacements were named and neither of them come from the Vegas Golden Knights or Chicago Blackhawks.
The first replacement is Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets. Connor was injured for a few weeks as well but he returned to Winnipeg and has been incredible. He has 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points in 28 games played.
The other is Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers. Trocheck has 15 goals and 28 assists for 44 points in 46 games played. He is on pace to destroy all of his career highs as an NHL player.
Although we will miss the likes of Eichel and Bedard at the game, these two are well deserving of the honor as well. They are sure to provide plenty of amazing moments as they are highly skilled and incredibly entertaining to watch.
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and Jack Hughes with Quinn Hughes will pick teams from the pool of players. Connor and Trocheck will add a lot to that group when they arrive in Toronto.