Auston Matthews passed over as EA NHL24 cover athlete for someone equally deserving

Just 24 hours ago, EA Sports NHL had dropped a post on Twitter with several prominent NHL stars suggesting who the cover athlete should be for EA NHL24. Among those asked was Auston Matthews, who joked that he'd be happy to go for "the hat trick", gracing the cover for a 3rd time. He also pondered whether Sidney Crosby should be the cover athlete near the end of the clip.

Well, we now have our official answer as to who this year's EA NHL cover athlete will be for the 2023-24 season. The Colorado Avalanche's own Cale Makar has been selected this time around.

There's no doubt that Makar is a very deserving candidate, as the former Norris Trophy winner is one of the NHL's elite defensemen and one of its brightest young stars.

Makar is not only a Norris Trophy winner, but also a Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup winner as well. He's one of the most accomplished defensemen in the league and he's still just 24 years of age.

The Calgary, Alberta native did struggle to stay healthy last season, suiting up in just 60 games for the Avs, but he also posted 17 goals and 66 points over that span, and contributed 5 points in 6 playoff games for the Avalanche last season.

Congrats to Cale on this huge honour and something tells me this won't be the last time he ends up on the cover of one of these EA NHL games.

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POLL
14 AOUT \| 266 ANSWERS Auston Matthews passed over as EA NHL24 cover athlete for someone equally deserving Who would you have put on the cover of EA NHL24?
Cale Makar is the right choice	93	35 %
They should have just made Matthews a 3x cover man	26	9.8 %
I'd have gone with McDavid	113	42.5 %
Other	34	12.8 %
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