Auston Matthews won his first Hart Trophy for NHL MVP in 2021-22 after becoming the first player in 10 years to score 60 goals. He's on pace for over 70 this season? Is he a shoe-in if he hits 70? Twelve different NHL All-Stars are set to compete for $1 million on Friday when they participate in a revamped skills competition at Scotiabank Arena. The NHL revealed the opening-round assignments on Wednesday. Auston Matthews will participate in the one-timers, passing challenge, hardest shot, and stick-handling competitions. William Nylander is set to participate in the fastest skater, passing challenge, stick-handling and accuracy shooting. The complete list of events and rules for the competition are listed below Of interest here is that in the first round, there isn't an equal participation. There are only five skaters in the fastest skater competition, guaranteeing each participant will get at least one point. Skaters were given a chance to switch after seeing the distribution of participants and nobody elected to switch. The skills competition will be broadcast and streamed at 7 p.m. ET on Friday on Sportsnet in Canada and ESPN in the United States. 1) NHL Fastest Skater William Nylander, TOR Quinn Hughes, VAN Cale Makar, COL Mathew Barzal, NYI Connor McDavid, EDM 2) One Timers Elias Pettersson, VAN Nathan MacKinnon, COL Leon Draisaitl, EDM Nikita Kucherov, TBL J.T. Miller, VAN Auston Matthews, TOR Mathew Barzal, NYI David Pastrnak, BOS 3) NHL Passing Challenge Nathan MacKinnon, COL William Nylander, TOR Cale Makar, COL Mathew Barzal, NYI J.T. Miller, VAN Nikita Kucherov, TBL Quinn Hughes, VAN Connor McDavid, EDM Elias Pettersson, VAN Auston Matthews, TOR Leon Draisaitl, EDM 4) NHL Hardest Shot Auston Matthews, TOR Cale Makar, COL David Pastrnak, BOS J.T. Miller, VAN Elias Pettersson, VAN 5) NHL Stick Handling Quinn Hughes, VAN Connor McDavid, EDM Elias Pettersson, VAN Nikita Kucherov, TBL Leon Draisaitl, EDM Nathan MacKinnon, COL David Pastrnak, BOS Mathew Barzal, NYI William Nylander, TOR 6) NHL Accuracy Shooting Nikita Kucherov, TBL Cale Makar, COL Connor McDavid, EDM Quinn Hughes, VAN J.T. Miller, VAN David Pastrnak, BOS Nathan MacKinnon, COL William Nylander, TOR Leon Draisaitl, EDM Auston Matthews, TOR 7) NHL One-on-One Skaters: top eight point-earners from events 1-6 will participate, and choose the goalie they shoot against Jeremy Swayman, BOS Alexandar Georgiev, COL Jake Oettinger, DAL Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA Cam Talbot, LAK Igor Shesterkin, NYR Thatcher Demko, VAN Connor Hellebuyck, WPG * Goalie with the most saves will earn $100,000 (USD) 8) NHL Obstacle Course Skaters: top six point-earners from events 1-7 will participate Points doubled for Pepsi NHL Obstacle Course The NHL All-Star with the most points accumulated after the eight events will be crowned the winner of the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook and will earn $1 million. Descriptions of each event, as well as tie-breaking procedures, are listed below: EVENT 1 - NHL FASTEST SKATER Participants A minimum of four players Winner Player with the fastest time Procedure / Rules The course is one full rink lap. Each player has one attempt to establish their time. Skater may choose direction of their lap. Skater is positioned a maximum of three feet behind the start line located on the penalty box side of the centre line. Skater starts on the referee’s whistle. The timing device starts when the skater crosses the start line. In case of a clock malfunction, the official time will be recorded from the official’s stopwatch. EVENT 2 - NHL ONE TIMERS Participants A minimum of four players & one passer Winner Player with the most points Procedure / Rules Passer to make passes from a predetermined position. Player to shoot 3 one timers from each of the 3 designated shot positions. Player will receive a maximum of 5 passes at each position to make their maximum 3 attempts. Points are awarded based on the placement of the puck in the net. Clock starts on official’s whistle. Maximum time allowed is one minute to take all nine shots. If a player breaks his stick the one-minute clock will be stopped, a new stick will be provided, and the shot will be replayed. Four points earned if the shot goes in the upper slot, three points if shot goes in either of the side triangular slots, two points if the shot goes in the net, but not either of the 3 designated slots, one point if the shot hits one of the bars in the net and no points if the shot misses the net, ricochets off the net frame or hits the lower barrier. EVENT 3 - NHL PASSING CHALLENGE Participants A minimum of four players Winner Player with the most points Procedure / Rules Player begins at either end of the rink behind the net. Player has 45 seconds to complete 11 passes. Targets will be placed in clusters on both sides of the rink. Each of the 3 targets in a cluster will have different point values (1, 2, or 3). Player will follow a set course and attempt passes at each of the 5 clusters. Each successful pass earns the point value associated with the target hit. The first 5 passes will be made from a path running from crease to crease and the player must remain within the path when making their pass. Officials to indicate to a player if they are moving offside. A successful pass made by a player outside the path will not receive the point value of the target hit. Passes 6 - 11 are from the face off dot opposite to a cluster of targets at each end of the rink. Players may not pass a puck after the 45 second clock has expired, but a puck in motion will be counted. The accumulated points will stand for any player who “times out”. Clock starts on official’s whistle. EVENT 4 - NHL HARDEST SHOT Participants A minimum of four players Winner Player who records the fastest speed Procedure / Rules Two attempts for each player. A single puck is positioned on the ice 30 feet from the center of the goal. A player, starting no further than the nearest blue line, may skate towards the puck and shoot it from its positioned spot into the goal. Shots must be on goal to be calculated and all shots are recorded by the NHL puck tracking system. If a puck enters the goal uncalculated due to a malfunction of the data capture, the shooter will be allowed an additional attempt. If a player breaks their stick, they will be given another attempt. EVENT 5 - NHL STICK HANDLING Participants A minimum of four players Winner Player with the fastest time Procedure / Rules Player to complete the following; * undefined * undefined * undefined Clock starts on official’s whistle. Player must maintain possession of puck at all times while completing the course or the player will be instructed to go back to the puck or cone that was missed to complete the skill. Each skill must be completed before moving on to the next skill. Official whistles/signals completion of each skill. Event ends when puck enters the goal net. EVENT 6 - NHL ACCURACY SHOOTING Participants A minimum of four players & four passers Winner Player with the fastest time Procedure / Rules Four destructible styrofoam targets 15 inches in diameter are attached to the goal posts, one target in each corner. Two players, one on each side of the net, alternately pass pucks to a shooter positioned 25 feet out from the goal line. Clock starts on official’s whistle. Shooters compete at both ends of the rink, alternating attempts. Any contact of a target by a puck that is shot is scored as a hit. Clock stops when player has successfully hit all four targets. EVENT 7 - NHL ONE-ON-ONE Participants The top 8 players following events 1 - 6 Eight goalies The 8th place player selects the goalie match up first, followed by the 7th place player and so on until all eight goalies are assigned The player/goalie match up cannot be from the same team. Winner The player with the most points The goalie with the most saves* Procedure / Rules Pucks will be placed at 6 designated positions. Player has 1:00 to take shots on goal. Player cannot take a shot until they cross the hashmarks. No rebounds. Play is dead once the puck crosses the goal line into the net or outside the goal posts. If a player is in motion with their final puck, play continues until the shot is taken even if the one minute clock has expired. The first 5 pucks will have a 1 point value and pucks 6 plus will have a 2 point value. Clock starts on official’s whistle. *Goalie Prize The goalie with the most saves will win $100K (USD) If goalies are tied for most saves, the goalie with the higher save percentage wins If a goalie competes twice for any reason, their best round will be counted EVENT 8 - NHL OBSTACLE COURSE Participants The top 6 players following event 7 Winner Player with the fastest time Procedure / Rules On the officials whistle the player starts on the player bench side at the centre line with a puck and skates to the penalty box side of the zamboni end goal line. As the player rounds the goal net, they will see 6 of the twelve bridges lit up with a green light and the player handles the puck under the lit bridges that are lit green. Following the completion of the 6 bridges the player moves to passing accuracy where a pile of pucks are positioned. Player to score in each of the 3 mini nets. After completion of the mini nets, the player picks up a puck to complete the cone course. Out of the cone course the player finishes the event by hitting the target in the net. If the player misses on their first attempt, additional pucks will be available. Time ends when the player successfully hits the target. Competition Rules and Regulations Decision Process The officials shall make all necessary rulings regarding the Skills events. Prior to the event the NHL in conjunction with the 12 competing players will determine which players are participating in which event and order of participation. Number of players in each event is subject to change. The 12 players must participate in 4 of the first 6 events. After event 6, 4 players will be eliminated and following the seventh event, 2 additional players will be eliminated. Points For events 1 - 7, points are awarded as follows; 1st - 5 pts, 2nd - 4 pts, 3rd - 3 pts, 4th - 2 pts, 5th - 1 pt, 6th +, 0 pts For event eight, points are awarded as follows; 1st - 10 pts, 2nd - 8 pts, 3rd - 6 pts, 4th - 4 pts, 5th - 2 pts, 6th - 0 pts Tie Situations If at the completion of an event there is a tie for any position the players will split the points available. i.e. a tie for 2nd would earn each player 3.5 pts. If at the completion of the NHL All-Star Skills competition there is a tie for first place, the player with the higher ranking in the 8th event (Obstacle Course) will win the overall competition. If players are tied after Six Events The player with the most 1st, 2nd, 3rd place etc rankings is ranked higher. If the players are still tied, then we compare rankings in the events the tied players participated head-to-head. If still tied and not for 8th position, a coin flip will determine order for event 7. If still tied and for 8th position players flip a coin to determine shooing order for “Closest to the Goal”. Closest to the goal is measured from the centre of the goal line. If more than 2 players are tied for 8th position, players will draw cards to determine shooting order for “Closest to the Goal”. If players are tied after Seven Events · If the players are tied, rankings are compared in the 7th event. · If they are still tied, the player with the most 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, etc. rankings is ranked higher. · If the players are still tied, then we compare rankings in all the events the tied players participated head-to-head. · If still tied and not for 6th position, we flip a coin to determine order for event 8. · If still tied and for 6th position players flip a coin to determine shooing order for “Closest to the Goal”. Closest to the goal is measured from the centre of the goal line. · If more than 2 players are tied for 6th position, players will draw cards to determine shooting order for “Closest to the Goal”. 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