Report: Auston Matthews, William Nylander Among Maple Leafs Expected to Compete for $1 Million in NHL All-Star Skills Competition
Twelve players will be unveiled for the skills competition on Saturday with fans with 10 participants being named on Saturday.
The NHL has unveiled a brand new format to the NHL skills competition as part of NHL All-Star weekend. It is expected that Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander will be among those participating.
On the latest edition of TSN's Insider Trading, TSN hockey insider Chris Johnston reported that he expects Matthews and Nylander will be among the initial 10 players that will be announced for the new format.
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"Three big names to keep an eye on that I believe will be in that competition; Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. Three of the most dangerous offensive in the game," Johnston said. "Keep an eye on William Nylander too, he's expected to get in with the skills competition in Toronto."
Matthews was among the first group of 32 named to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, which will take place on Feb. 3 at Scotiabank Arena, with the skills competition taking place on Feb. 2. The NHL has changed the format this year where 12 players will compete for $1 million.
Fan voting for the remaining participants closed on Jan 11 with final results expected to be unveiled on Saturday. Nylander was leading fan voting among skaters when the NHL released early polling numbers on Jan .9
All 12 players will compete in four of the first six events: the fastest skater, hardest shot, stick-handling, one-timers, a passing challenge, and accuracy shooting. First place will be worth five points, second place four points and so on.
The eight skaters with the most points will advance to the next round shootout where players will pick one of eight goalies to go up against. The skater that finished eighth in the previous round will select first until the first-place finisher is left with one goaltender left.
The final round sees the top six take part in an obstacle course that involves all skills from Round 1 of the competition and the points are worth double. The winner from that round will take home $1 million.
The NHL will announce the first 10 players for the competition along with fan voting results on Saturday. Fans will be able to vote on which two skaters will join the initial 10 for the skills competition.
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