William Nylander snubbed yet again as Auston Matthews' All-Star Game roster spot goes to a division rival instead

During Wednesday's thrilling 3-2 OT victory over the New York Rangers, Leafs resident sniper Auston Matthews suffered an unfortunate lower-body injury, which will sideline him for several weeks. At this point, his knee sprain is expected to keep him out of action for a minimum of 3 weeks, but it could be longer if he's not quite at 100% when he is re-evaluated.

The injury to Matthews is a tough pill to swallow for Leafs Nation, but it did open the door for William Nylander to potentially attend the All-Star game in place of his injured teammate. Well, unfortunately, those dreams were shattered when the NHL opted to give Matthews' spot at the All-Star Game to Aleksander Barkov (FLA).


Look. I'm not saying that Barkov is not an excellent player. He's a superstar. But his 43 points in 40 games pales in comparison to Nylander's 57 points in 49 games. Nylander has played incredibly well this season and absolutely deserves to be at the All-Star Game - perhaps even more than Matthews did.


Barkov getting the nod here probably has more to do with the fact that he's a natural center, like Matthews, than sending the most deserving candidates.