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Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon not happy about Nazem Kadri's All-Star snub

Olivier Neven
·Writer
·3 min read
Nathan MacKinnon is one of many who aren't happy with Nazem Kadri's All-Star snub. (Getty)

Nathan MacKinnon thinks it's "silly" his teammate Nazem Kadri didn't get an All-Star nomination.

The NHL announced the 2022 All-Star Game rosters on Thursday, setting the table for the festivities to come in early February at T-Mobile Arena, just off the Strip in Las Vegas. Practically an annual ritual at this point, hockey fans took to Twitter to debate the picks and make the case for some of the notable names that were left out.

But fans weren’t the only ones getting in on the conversation, with the Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon making a case for his snubbed teammate.

"It's silly," MacKinnon told reporters on Friday when asked about Kadri's absence on the Team Central roster. "I don't think every team should send a guy. ... It's an All-Star Game, not a Participation Game."

The NHL rules that every team must have at least one player on the All-Star roster.

This season, the league itself selected nine members of each team, with a fan-voted captain. The NHL is also allowing fans to vote for one more addition to each squad. The four division squads will play a 3-on-3 format in what will be the first All-Star Game since 2019-20.

Kadri is on pace for a career year, recording 13 goals and 48 points in 30 games so far this season, good enough for fourth in the league in scoring.

Many agree with MacKinnon’s disapproval of the NHL’s rule of selecting at least one player from every team to represent their city in the All-Star Game.

MacKinnon added that, in his opinion, Colorado should have "five or six" players on this season's All-Star roster. As things stand, only MacKinnon and defenceman Cale Makar will represent the Avs in Vegas.

But Kadri still has a chance to be selected as an All-Star, as fans are now able to vote for one final addition to each division. Though he hasn't expressed any direct opinions on his All-Star snub, the London, Ont., native did retweet a post from the Avalanche making his case for the Central Division's Last Man In.

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