2024 NHL All-Star Skills event: 3 major changes to look forward to in Toronto

Fans will witness a completely transformed NHL All-Star Skills Competition in 2024. A large part of the credit goes to Connor McDavid, who reportedly provided his input on how the league could make the competition more intriguing for fans.

The 2024 NHL All-Star event is set to take place on Feb. 1 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, followed by the skills competition the next day. With the announcement of changes in the skills competition, fans are excited about this event.

Here are the three changes in the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills competition

#1- The new format will have limited players

The new format will see the participation of only twelve players instead of every All-Star participating in the event. The twelve players will be battling against each other throughout eight skill events.

The first eight players competing will be selected by the NHL's hockey operations department and NHLPA. Meanwhile, the remaining four players will be determined via fan voting.

#2- NHL All-Star skills events

The 2024 All-Star Skills competition will feature a total of eight skills events:

1. Fastest Skater
2. Hardest Shot
3. Stick Handling
4. One-Timers
5. Pass Handling
6. Accuracy Shooting
7. NHL Shootout (top eight players)
8. NHL Obstacle Course (top six players)

Each player will go head-to-head in four of the first six events, earning points based on their respective finishes. Notably, the points are allocated as five for the first-place finish, down to zero for the sixth, and placed below in the standings.

After the completion of the first six events, the four players with the lowest points will be eliminated from the competition.

The remaining eight players will then advance to the seventh round: the NHL Shootout, which will feature eight All-Star goalies. To make it more interesting, players will be able to choose goaltenders of their choice to go against in this competition.

#3- Prize money

Following the completion of the seventh round, the competition will be down to only the top six players who will advance to the final event of the skills competition, the NHL Obstacle.

The final round will include the aspects from the previous seven rounds and conclude with the crowning of the winner of the night.

To keep the players engaged until the end, players will be awarded double points in the final round of the NHL All-Star Skills Competition. The winner of the skills competition will be awarded $1 million as prize money.