William Nylander was rewarded with an eight-year, $92 million contract from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
Now, NHL fans appear to be rewarding the Maple Leafs forward with a chance to play in front of his home fans in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.
Nylander is the leading vote-getter among skaters in the 2024 NHL All-Star Fan Vote presented by MassMutual. More than 20 million votes have been cast, with the vote running through midnight Thurdsday.
Fans can vote on at NHL.com/vote, via X (formerly Twitter) and the NHL App. Every retweet vote cast on Wednesday will count twice.
As of midnight Monday, Nylander had 744,990 votes. His Toronto teammate, forward Mitch Marner, was fifth with 457,900 votes. Rounding out the top eight were three Vancouver Canucks forwards, Elias Pettersson (fourth, 518,168 votes), J.T. Miller (sixth, 452,451) and Brock Boeser (seventh, 383,954). Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar was second with 664,394 votes and Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl was third with 567,917 votes. New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin was eighth with 362,210 votes, but he has said he will not go to All-Star Game because his wife is expecting their second child. Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen was ninth with 342,193 votes.
The overall leading vote-getter is Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko with 788,278 votes. He would be one of four goalies voted in by the fans. Rounding out the top four are Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers (440,210), Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (381,270) and Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev (350,179). Georgiev has a 39-vote lead over Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark.
The 12 players voted in by the fans will join the 32 players selected by the NHL who were unveiled on Jan. 4.
The first six of the final 12 will be announced on ABC, ESPN+ and Sportsnet during the first intermission of the game between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals on Saturday (1 p.m. ET). The final six will be announced on Sportsnet and NHL Network prior to game between the Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET).
All-Star Weekend, which runs from Feb. 1-3, will have a completely new look this year. The player draft will return to as part of a new event: NHL All-Star Thursday.
Celebrities will be paired with captains, who will pick the four teams of 11 players (nine skaters, two goalies) for the NHL All-Star Game.
The NHL Alumni Association will announce its Man of the Year in a tribute to the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs, their last team to win the Stanley Cup. The Professional Women’s Hockey League will play a 3-on-3 game.
“Toronto will be cool,” Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon said. “I have family that lives there, friends that can just fly up easily. It'll be a little different this year. Last year, Florida was fun; little better weather there for sure, but I don't mind the cold."
The skills competition, which will be held Feb. 2, will have a new look this year as well, with 12 NHL All-Stars competing for points in eight events, with the NHL All-Star who accumulates the most points taking home a prize of $1 million (USD).
Each player will compete in four of the first six events listed below, earning points for their respective finish in each event.
The events are: Fastenal NHL Fastest Skater; Rogers NHL Hardest Shot; Upper Deck NHL Stick Handling; NHL One Timers; NHL Passing Challenge; Cheetos NHL Accuracy Shooting.
The top eight point-earners will advance to the seventh event, the Honda NHL Shootout, where each player will choose which goalie they shoot against. Following the Honda NHL Shootout, the top six point-earners will advance to the eighth and final event, the Pepsi NHL Obstacle Course, where the point totals are doubled.
“We’ve decided to add a third night to an already vibrant weekend,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “We felt like this was a year to make some changes.”
Tickets to the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook are available at Ticketmaster Verified Resale, the official resale partner of the NHL. In addition, tickets to the 2024 Hyundai NHL Fan Fair, the official fan festival of the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend, are available for purchase at NHL.com/FanFair while supplies last. NHL All-Star Thursday is open to the public and tickets are available here.
Here are the top 15 skaters and top eight goalies in the fan vote as of Tuesday morning.
