2024 NHL All-Star Game

The 2024 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on February 3, 2024 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the first time that the four-team, three-on-three format used since 2016 was combined with the "fantasy draft" format used from 2011 to 2015. The fantasy draft took place on February 1, and was followed by the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on February 2. This was the 68th edition of the game.

The team captains were chosen by the NHL: Auston Matthews of the All-Star Game-hosting Maple Leafs captained one team, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers captained the second team, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche captained the third team, and brothers Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks co-captained the fourth team.

Following this All-Star game, the NHL instead held a new 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in 2025 and a send off event for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with the next All-Star Game taking place in 2027.

History

The NHL awarded Toronto as the host city of the game on February 4, 2023. This was the first time since 2012 in Ottawa that a Canadian city was selected to host the game. This was Toronto's ninth time hosting the NHL All-Star Game, including the first game in 1947. This was the second time that Scotiabank Arena (then known as Air Canada Centre) hosted the game, the first time being in 2000.

Rosters

On November 27, 2023, the NHL announced that the fantasy player draft, used from 2011 to 2015, would make its return to the All-Star Game, while keeping the three-on-three format used since 2016. Like in the 2023 All-Star Game, the player selection process was performed in two stages, with the league's initially selecting 32 players, one for each team, and then the remaining 12 players were decided by fan vote. The league then selected four players to be captains for each of the four teams, and the draft of the players took place on February 1, 2024.

On January 14, the head coaches were announced, chosen from the team in each division with the highest points percentage through January 13: Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins (Atlantic), Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers (Metropolitan), Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets ( Central), and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks (Pacific).

On January 22, Kyle Connor and Vincent Trocheck were added as replacements for Connor Bedard and Jack Eichel who were unable to play due to injury. On January 30, Jesper Bratt was added to replace the injured Jack Hughes.

NHL's selections

The league announced its 32 selections on January 4:

* Injured; did not play.
*^† Added as injury replacement.

Fan vote

The fan vote ran from January 4 to January 11 to determine the final 12 players (8 skaters and 4 goalies). The results were announced on January 13.

Draft

The draft of the NHL players took place on February 1, 2024. On January 4, the league announced that two of the captains would be Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The league then announced on January 20 that Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche would captain the third team, and brothers Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks would co-captain the fourth team. For alternate captains, Morgan Rielly joined Toronto teammate Matthews, Leon Draisaitl joined Edmonton teammate McDavid, and Cale Makar joined Colorado teammate MacKinnon. Although Jack Hughes was unable to play due to injury, he still participated in helping his brother Quinn in the players draft, and Elias Pettersson was named alternate captain of the fourth team in his place. Each team was also joined by a celebrity co-captain to help select their roster: singer Justin Bieber on Team Matthews, actor and comedian Will Arnett on Team McDavid, singer Tate McRae on Team MacKinnon, and singer Michael Buble on Team Hughes.

Hughes won the first pick in the draft, Matthews received the second pick, MacKinnon was awarded the third pick, and McDavid got the fourth pick. The teams selected in reverse order during even-numbered rounds. For the final round, Hockey Hall of Famer Dave Keon conducted a random draw of envelopes with the four remaining unselected players.

Team Matthews

Team McDavid

Team MacKinnon

Team Hughes

Skills Competition

The NHL All-Star Skills Competition, was held on February 2, having been revamped. Instead of having individual winners for each skill event, twelve specific players competed in multiple events to determine an overall winner. Each player first competed in four of the following six events: Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Stick Handling, One Timers, Passing Challenge, and Accuracy Shooting, with points given out based on the players' results. The top eight advanced to the One-on-One shootout. From there, the top six advanced to the final event, the Obstacle Course, with the winner of the competition winning a trophy and $1 million. Different from a regular game scenario, the pucks used in the Skills Competition were not frozen.

The players who participated in the Skills Competition were determined by a fan vote held concurrently with the main All-Star fan vote that ran from January 4 to January 11. Due to Jack Hughes' injury, Mathew Barzal served as his replacement.

* David Pastrnak (Boston)
* Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado)
* Cale Makar (Colorado)
* Connor McDavid (Edmonton)
* Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton)
* Jack Hughes (New Jersey)
* Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay)
* Auston Matthews (Toronto)
* William Nylander (Toronto)
* Quinn Hughes (Vancouver)
* J.T. Miller (Vancouver)
* Elias Pettersson (Vancouver)
* Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders)^†
*: Injured; did not play.
*:^† Added as injury replacement.

Fastest Skater

Players skated one lap around the ice to compete for the fastest time.

One Timers

Players received one timer passes and tried to accumulate the most points by scoring various points for hitting certain areas of the net. Passers for the event included Connor Bedard and Sidney Crosby.

Passing Challenge

Players skated up and down the ice trying to complete cross-ice passes to various sized targets to accumulate the most points.

Hardest Shot

Each player took two shots to achieve the hardest shot, with the best of their two shots counting to the event.

Stick Handling

Players raced to achieve the fastest time through a stick-handling obstacle course that include dribbling the puck, skating backwards around cones with the puck, and finishing the course with a toe drag goal.

Accuracy Shooting

Players raced to achieve the fastest time to knockout a shooting target in each of the four corners of the net. Passers for the event included Blayre Turnbull, Doug Gilmour, Sarah Nurse, and Steve Thomas.

One-on-One

The top eight point-earners from the first six events participated. Each player got to choose which goaltender they were shooting against and had 1 minute to score as many points as possible. The goaltender with the most saves in the event won $100,000.

Obstacle Course

The top six point-earners from the first seven events participated. Players raced from one end of the ice to the other, competing for the fastest time, while also having to complete a stick-handling challenge, a saucer pass challenge, and a slalom challenge, before having to score a goal. Points were doubled for this event.

Final standings

Bracket

Game summaries

Each game was played in abbreviated format, consisting of two 10-minute periods of 3-on-3 play.

First semifinal game

Second semifinal game

Final

Festivities and entertainment

Fan fair

The Fan Fair, held between February 1 and February 4 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, featured various fan activities during All-Star Weekend including games and appearances by NHL mascots and All-Star alumni. Various local businesses hosted themed events and activities throughout the weekend featuring current and former NHL players.

As part of the festivities, the NHL hosted their inaugural All-Star Pride Cup alongside the Toronto Gay Hockey Association and Pride Tape, on February 3. The teams were coached by former NHL player and current NHL Director of Social Impact, Growth and Fan Development Andrew Ference, and former NHL executive and current PWHL executive and advocate Brian Burke.

Professional Women's Hockey League Showcase

A Professional Women's Hockey League 3-on-3 Showcase game was played to conclude All-Star Thursday on February 1. Two teams of 12 players competed in one 20-minute game. The teams were named in honor of former tennis players and current PWHL advisory board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss.

Mascot Showdown

Throughout the weekend, the thirty team mascots (the New York Rangers and Detroit did not have costumed mascots) competed in a series of events and competitions pitting the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference. Events included: Dodgeball, Skills Competition (Breakaway Challenge, Accuracy Shooting, Hardest Shot, Fastest Hoverboard, and T-Shirt Targets), Ice Hockey, Street Hockey, and Musical Chairs. Each competition was preceded by a mascot parade to the rink and concluded with a customary handshake line, demonstrating good sportsmanship. The Dodgeball game was won by the Western Conference, while the Eastern Conference won the Skills Competition, Ice Hockey game, and Street Hockey game.

Entertainment

Toronto Maple Leafs anthem singer and Canada's Got Talent season 4 finalist Natalie Morris performed the Canadian and American national anthems during NHL All-Star Thursday.

R&B singer Chxrry22 performed the Canadian national anthem and pop singer and Fifth Harmony member Dinah Jane performed the American national anthem to open the Skills Competition on February 2, 2024, while country singer Owen Riegling, rock band The Glorious Sons and singer-songwriter TALK headlined performances.

The All-Star Game on February 3 featured DJ duo Loud Luxury during the player introductions, country music duo and America's Got Talent season 19 contestant The Reklaws performing the Canadian national anthem, R&B singer Kiana Ledé performing the American national anthem, and pop singer Tate McRae performing during the second intermission.

American Sign Language interpretation was provided for all performances, by Lisa Dressler for All-Star Thursday and Lisa Faria for the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game.

Media rights

In Canada, the players fantasy draft, the Skills Competition, and the All-Star Game were broadcast in English on Sportsnet. CBC also simulcast the Sportsnet coverage of the All-Star Game, while Citytv simulcast the ABC broadcast of that game for simultaneous substitution purposes. All three events were broadcast on TVA Sports in French, and streamed live in Canada on Sportsnet+.

In the U.S., ESPN2 covered the players fantasy draft, ESPN broadcast the Skills Competition, and ABC broadcast the All-Star Game. The players fantasy draft, Skills Competition, and the All-Star Game were streamed live in the U.S. on ESPN+.

References

{{NHL on Sportsnet

National Hockey League All-Star Games
All-Star Game
National Hockey League All-Star Game
National Hockey League All-Star Game
National Hockey League All-Star Game