Leafs captain criticizes the league for its All-Star selection process

Toronto Maple Leafs captain, John Tavares, is one of many who want to revisit the All-Star Game selection process. He was quoted as saying:

"I've always thought it's important to recognize the players that are very deserving, and every year there's always gonna be a couple of guys that, because of the format, don't get the recognition."

And right he is because the new format - 3 on 3 divisional games - only allows 11 players to be selected amongst 8 teams. Each team has to be represented and that's where the problem lies. For example, Seth Jones was selected amongst the 32 All-Stars and at the time of his selection he had 11 points in 27 games. He is now up to 20 points in 33 games but because each team has to be represented, a player like Miro Heiskanen or Roman Josi who are much more deserving get snubbed.

Mitch Marner is another good example, sitting 11th in the league in points with 55, will not be partaking in the event because teams like Detroit and Montreal have to be present. Dylan Larkin has 41 points in 43 games and Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 37 points in 46 games.

William Nylander, Kyle Connor, Aleksander Barkov, Rasmus Dahlin, Dougie Hamilton, and Jake Oettinger are amongst a myriad of players who were deserving of an All-Star nod this season but were snubbed for one reason or another.

Maybe it's time the NHL takes a page from the NBA and starts picking players based on merit rather than full representation. Or as Tavares mentioned, expanding the roster if every team has to have one player at the game.