The 2023 NHL All-Star Game is now complete with the host Atlantic Divison walking away as champions. While the game did feature some exciting moments, including Florida Panthers Matthew Tkachuk winning MVP in front of his hometown fans, there are ways the NHL could make the event more exciting. Here are three suggestions on how to improve the All-Star Game.
Bringing Back The Fantasy Draft
Allowing the players to pick their teams in a fantasy draft event would provide the NHL with more content and allow fans to get more involved in the event. The premise of this would be simple to execute with a player from each division being named captain and, along with their division’s coach for the event, select players in a snake format. Based on this year’s rosters, this could allow combinations such as Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Ovechkin and Kirill Kaprizov, or Mitch Marner and Bo Horvat.
The NHL has done a fantasy draft in the past, which created some great moments. Whether it was Tyler Seguin and Phil Kessel being traded for each other in 2015 or Henrik and Daniel Sedin being drafted to different teams in 2011, a draft provides plenty of storylines and exposure for the NHL. The league went away from this idea too quickly and should consider bringing it back.
Eliminate Offsides
Offsides have become one of the most frustrating parts of hockey. Whether the offside is called right away or the play is challenged after a goal is scored, it slows down the game and restricts offence overall. In fact, at the 2023 All-Star Game, an Elias Pettersson goal was called back due to an offside challenge in a moment that had many across social media shaking their heads in disappointment. A way to avoid this would be to get rid of offsides during the game and allow players the freedom to skate wherever they want at any time.
Removing offsides would also allow some of the fastest players in the game to truly show off their speed. Instead of players like Connor McDavid, Cale Makar and Andrei Svechnikov having to slow down at the blue line to ensure their teammates are not offside, they can enter the zone at full speed and potentially blow by defenders to create one on ones with the goaltender. With the game’s final results having no implication on a player’s season statistics or which division will have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL shouldn’t be worried by such an arbitrary rule that limits goal scoring.
Introduce “Moneypuck”
An idea from the NHL video game series, “Moneypuck,” could ramp up the intensity throughout the event. The way this works is at parts of the game, the next goal could be worth two or three instead of one. This would allow for teams to stay in the game despite the score, as the next goal could get them closer to a tie or even push them into the lead.
Using an example from this year’s All-Star Game, Team Atlantic were up on Team Central 7-3 with under a minute to go in the finals. While Team Central were able to add two goals to make it 7-5, imagine the intensity level if each of those goals were worth two instead of one. This would keep the players engaged from start to finish and could lead to more offensive chances as the pace picks up whenever a “Moneypuck” appears.
More Excitement Possible At NHL All-Star Game
The NHL has many different avenues it can explore, including the three mentioned here, to make the NHL All-Star Game more exciting. Changing the format to three on three was a great start but there are still parts of the game that are slow as the players are not fully engaged from start to finish. While this year’s tournament had its moments, improvements need to be made to ensure that fans continue to tune into the event in the future.
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