Burns: Why Brayden Point should play in the All-Star Game

On Wednesday, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov were selected to represent the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game at San Jose's SAP Center on January 26. Stamkos earned his sixth selection to pull into a tie with Martin St. Louis for most in franchise history. Kucherov was selected for the third-consecutive season.
For the fifth-straight year, the Lightning will have at least two players at the All-Star Game.
But should they have had more?

Lightning center Brayden Point, arguably the team's most valuable two-way forward, was curiously left off the All-Star list, relegated to the Last Men In fan vote, which starts today and lasts a week. What does that mean? Point will have to receive more votes in an online poll over the next seven days than fellow Last Men In Atlantic Division contenders like Toronto's Morgan Rielly, Buffalo's Jeff Skinner and Detroit's Dylan Larkin, among others, to earn an All-Star Game bid for the second-consecutive season.
We think Point should be in the game (we're biased, of course), but plenty of statistics back up our thinking. Here are three reasons why Brayden Point should join Kucherov and Stamkos in San Jose. And if after reading his qualifications you feel compelled to vote for Point, click here to do so.

1. BETTER NUMBERS
Brayden Point ranks third in the Atlantic Division for scoring with 52 points, more than Boston's David Pastrnak (50 pts.), more than Buffalo's Jack Eichel (49 pts.) and more than Toronto's John Tavares (44 pts.). All three of those players were named to the 2019 All-Star Game.
But Point wasn't.
Of the eight Atlantic candidates for the Last Man In, Point leads all of them for scoring. In fact, the closest player to him is Ottawa's Mark Stone, and he trails Point by seven points.
Point leads the Lightning for goals with 23 and ranks fourth in the Atlantic Division. Okay, Skinner is outpacing the rest of the division with 26 goals, three more than Point, but he only has 13 assists to Point's 29, and Point far outpaces him for scoring.
Point's also been one of the best power-play producers. His 10 power-play goals are second in the division to only Pastrnak (11). And his 17 power-play points are more than any of the other candidates for the Last Man In too.

2. MORE THAN AN OFFENSIVE MACHINE
When the Lightning need to shut down another team's top offensive threat, who do they turn to?
More often than not, it's Brayden Point's line.
Point is arguably the best two-way forward in the Atlantic. Sure, Boston's Patrice Bergeron, also a candidate for the Last Man In, is a four-time winner of the NHL's Selke Trophy, given to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive components of the game. But remember last season's playoff series between the Lightning and the Bruins? The Pastrnak-Bergeron-Brad Marchand line dissected the Lightning in Game 1 en route to a 6-2 Boston victory. When the Point line was tasked with shutting that trio down, they held the Bruins to less than three goals in three of the next four games, and the Lightning won four in a row to win the series in five games. Point and his cohorts completely took the Bergeron line out of the series.
This season, we've seen the Point line hold Colorado's Mikko Rantanen-Nathan MacKinnon-Gabriel Landeskog powerhouse line in check in two games. And they stifled Edmonton's Connor McDavid in Edmonton in the last game before the Holiday Break.
Point and his linemates have proven time and again they're the trio that can lock down the NHL's top offensive players.
And that, maybe even more so than his offensive prowess, is what makes him such a valuable member of the Lightning.

3. CAREER NUMBERS
Point was a late addition to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa after Victor Hedman suffered an injury before the midseason showcase. At the time, Point ranked third on the NHL-leading Lightning for scoring with 19 goals and 43 points through 48 games.
But in 2018-19, Point already has 23 goals and 52 points. And that's just through 40 games this season.
Point is well on pace to put up career highs for goals, assists and points this season. Heck, last month alone, Point registered 14 assists and 19 points, establishing new career marks for assists in a single month and matching his career high for scoring in a month. He also had 19 points in November this season, which means, in back-to-back months, Point has recorded more points than he has at any stage of his career.
You say you want All-Stars who are playing their best hockey going into the game.
Look no further than Brayden Point.
Also, shouldn't you reward the team leading the NHL standings - by a whopping 10 points over second place Toronto - with more All-Stars? San Jose has three players in the game. Yes, the Sharks are hosting so naturally the League is going to try to make sure they're well-represented. But the Lightning should have at least as many players, particularly with the way they've been dominating the League through the season's first half.