NHL All-Star Game 2024: Top Storylines to Watch

The 2024 NHL All-Star Game comes with a new twist to the three-on-three format.

Four teams chosen by the NHL's top superstars on Thursday night will participate in a four-team tournament to decide the All-Star Game champion.

The All-Star Game tournament format is the same as previous years when All-Stars were separated by their divisions.

Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Hughes were all named captains.

Team Matthews has a heavy Toronto Maple Leafs presence to it, while Hughes' brother, Quinn, helped Team Hughes load up on Vancouver Canucks players.

Matthews and Co. will be the sentimental favorite to win in Toronto and a case could be made that Team Matthews and Team Hughes enter Saturday with advantages because their team members have more familiarity with each other.

Will Toronto and Vancouver Heavy Rosters Help?

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TORONTO, ONTARIO - FEBRUARY 01: (L-R) Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble and Dave Keon participate in the Tim Horton's NHL All-Star Player Draft at Scotiabank Arena on February 01, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

Team Matthews and Team Hughes have distinct familiarities to their squads.

Auston Matthews loaded up on his Toronto teammates to play together in front of the home crowd inside Scotiabank Arena.

Morgan Rielly was Matthews' co-captain and they selected William Nylander and Mitch Marner to be part of their squad.

Quinn Hughes, who was co-captain to his brother Jack, will play with Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller. Pettersson was named a co-captain for Team Hughes after Jack Hughes pulled out of the All-Star Game with an injury.

Team McDavid and Team MacKinnon only have one pair of teammates each, and they are the captains and co-captains of those squads.

Team Matthews and Team Hughes have built-in edges in three-on-three format because the Toronto and Vancouver teammates already practice in that situation.

Whether that translates to the All-Star Game remains to be seen, but neither team has to build up on-ice chemistry in 48 hours. Some fans may view that as the advantage needed to achieve success on Saturday.

Will One of the Top Superstars Win MVP?

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EDMONTON, CANADA - JANUARY 27: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates during the game against Kiefer Sherwood #44 of the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place on January 27, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

McDavid, Matthews and MacKinnon won countless awards throughout their careers, but none of them have been named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

David Pastrnak, Claude Giroux and Matthew Tkachuk won the last three ASG MVPs in the division-versus-division format.

The lack of ASG MVPs from the team captains has to do with the previous format. The two Eastern Conference divisions won four of the last six All-Star Games and the Central Division, with MacKinnon in it, did not win in the old format.

The three superstars have more pressure on them on Saturday because they handpicked the teams and their names are being used as the squad names.

Matthews is the emotional favorite to thrive in Toronto, but McDavid and MacKinnon can make stronger cases if they score at a high volume.

The ASG MVP is further down the list of most meaningful awards won by the trio, but it would still be nice to see one of them take over the exhibition.

High Scoring Should Continue

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DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 26: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche looks to make a shot on goal against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on January 26, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tyler Schank/Getty Images)

High scoring has always been the draw of the three-on-three All-Star Game format.

A year ago, the four divisional rosters combined to produce 38 goals across the two semifinals and championship matchup.

At least one semifinal across the last four All-Star Games featured a winning team with at least eight goals.

The hope is the high-scoring trend continues, especially with the familiarity on Team Matthews and Team Hughes.

Vancouver is the second-highest scoring team in the NHL, so we should expect offensive fireworks from Team Hughes with the four Canucks.

Toronto owns the fourth-best goal total in the Eastern Conference, so expectations will be high for Team Matthews as well.

Team McDavid should post a high total with McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Pastrnak and Sam Reinhart on the squad.

Team MacKinnon has MacKinnon and Colorado teammate Cale Makar as well as Sidney Crosby and Kirill Kaprizov.

Only one team failed to reach the five-goal mark in a three-on-three matchup in the ASG dating back to 2019, so regardless of the changes to the teams, we should see three high-scoring contests in Toronto.

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