How will the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills competition work? Comeplete liste of participants, round-by-round events explained

The 2024 NHL All-Star weekend is set for Feb. 1 to the 3rd in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

NHL All-Star weekend will also have a reimagined skills competition after fans complained about it for the past few years.

This year, 12 all-stars will compete for points in eight different events. The player who accumulates the most points will earn a prize of $1 million. The events were the fastest skater, hardest shot, stickhandling, one-timers, passing challenge, accuracy shooting, shootout and obstacle course.

The All-Stars will compete in four of the first six events, with first place worth five points, second place four points, and so on. The top eight will advance to the seventh event, which is the shootout, and after that, the top six point-getters will advance to the final event, which is the obstacle course, which will include all skills and be worth double the points.

According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, he says the league wanted to do something different for the skills competition:

“We wanted to do something that the players would have fun with and want to participate in,” Bettman said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Tuesday... "We’ll crown an All-Star All-Star as the Skills champion, and that should be a lot of fun.”

The seventh event of the shootout is what NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer is excited about. The league will let players pick the goalie they want to shoot against, which will give the goalies a chip on their shoulders.

“The seventh event is so cool,” Mayer said. “Eight players will line up on one blue line, eight goalies will line up on the other, and the players -- one by one, from eighth place to first place -- will pick the goalie he wants to go up against.”

Ultimately, the league is hoping the skills competition can bring back excitement to NHL All-Star weekend.

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Which 12 players are participating in the NHL All-Star skills competition

The field for the NHL All-Star skill competition was revealed ahead of next weekend's festivities:

• David Pastrnak, F, Boston Bruins
• Nathan MacKinnon, F, Colorado Avalanche
• Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche
• Leon Draisaitl, F, Edmonton Oilers
• Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers
• Jack Hughes, F, New Jersey Devils
• Nikita Kucherov, F, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Auston Matthews, F, Toronto Maple Leafs
• William Nylander, F, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Elias Pettersson, F, Vancouver Canucks
• J.T. Miller, F, Vancouver Canucks
• Quinn Hughes, F, Vancouver Canucks.

As for the actual All-Star game, the player draft will take place on Feb. 1 as the four captains, assistant captains and celebrity captains will select four teams of 11 players (nine skaters and two goalies).