Today is the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, Here Are My Predictions

Today is the day! It’s time for the NHL’s All-Star Skills Competition, starting at 7PM CT and here are some of my hot takes on who will take home the W’s.

Fastest Skater

Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres)
Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders)
Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
Anthony Duclair (Ottawa Senators)
Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)
Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks)

My Pick: Nathan MacKinnon

Fuck your past winner, I’m changing it up. MacKinnon is an absolute speed demon and I think McDavid will pull back this year after his major injury at the end of last season. Plus, sorry Connor, I want chaos and a new champion. But if we have a Kendall Coyne come back, sorry Nate, I take Kendall.

Save Streak

David Rittich (Calgary Flames)
Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues)
Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Jacob Markstrom (Vancouver Canucks)
Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)

My Pick: Connor Hellebuyck

Hellebuyck has a 2.67 GAA and .916 save percentage. He’s played the most games of any goalie this season (42), has the most shutouts (4), has faced the most shots (1,281), and has the most saves (1,175). He’s all-around dominating so he’ll be really sharp for the save streak.

Accuracy Shooting

Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes)
Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit Red Wings)
Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils)
Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks)
Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues)
Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets)

My Pick: Mark Scheifele

I’m switching it up and going for Scheifele. The center has 23 goals on 116 shots on net so I’ll put my money on him for this one.

Elite Women’s 3-on-3

I wrote about the roster of the Elite Women’s 3-on-3 here when the news dropped.

My Pick: USA

The only time I feel this patriotic is when a USA Hockey Team is involved so you bet your ass Imma be cheering for the home team.

Hardest Shot

Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)
Seth Jones (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Shea Weber (Montreal Canadiens)
Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)
John Carlson (Washington Capitals)

My Pick: Shea Weber

Regardless of age, Shea Weber still has a terrifyingly hard shot. I think he’ll bring the hardest one tomorrow. God(s) bless anyone that stands in its way.

Shooting Stars

This is a new event this year. It is basically going to be this but with more targets involved:

I would like to point out that I thought it was something very different.

Women’s Elite All-Star from Canada (Fan-Voted TBD)
Women’s Elite All-Star from America (Fan-Voted TBD)
David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins)
Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames)
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars)
Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators)
David Perron (St. Louis Blues)
Ryan O’Reilly (St. Louis Blues)
Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs)

My Pick: Kendall Coyne or Patrick Kane

Even though the women haven’t been announced yet, if it’s Kendall Coyne, she’s winning. Coyne has great aim even from 30 feet up. If Kendall is not picked then Kane, plus I have to root for the home team on that one.