Two More Avalanche Players Heading To NHL All-Star Game

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon will have some company in Toronto for the NHL All-Star festivities next month, as two more players have been voted into the game by fans.

One is far from a surprise. The other is.

Cale Makar and Alexandar Georgiev have both been voted into February’s NHL All-Star festivities by the fans.

Heading to the All-Star game is nothing new for the 25 year old Makar. He is just the second defenseman in franchise history to be named to the NHL All-Star game for three consecutive seasons, joining Rob Blake. Makar has picked up 48 points in 37 games this season, and could still hit 100 points with a healthy second half of the season.

While Makar is used to heading to the festivities, this will be a whole new experience for Alexandar Georgiev. He’s never been chosen for an All-Star game before, and based off the season he is having, it’s fair to say his selection is a bit of a surprise.

While Georgiev leads the NHL in wins (23) and games started (34), all of his other numbers have taken a dip this season. After putting up career bests in goals against average (2.53) and save percentage (.919) last year, he’s taken a step back. His save percentage sits at just .898 right now, while his goals against average has gone up to 2.88. He’s coming off arguably his best game in months against the Vegas Golden Knights, so hopefully he can build off of that. Either way, it should be a fun weekend for Georgiev, and it never hurts to hang around some of the best players in the world.

There are still seven more players to be named to the NHL All-Star game, but the fact that they named two Avalanche players already would seem to indicate that neither Mikko Rantanen or Valeri Nichushkin will be headed to Toronto. Both are producing at greater than a point-per-game, but there are only so many players that can go. The NHL requiring one player from each team to play in the All-Star game will be a big reason why some very deserving players don’t make the cut.

Perhaps it’s for the best, though. It could be argued that all of MacKinnon, Makar, Georgiev, Nichushkin, and Rantanen could use a week off to rest and recover, so at least two of them look like they’ll be getting that.

Stay tuned to CHN for any Avalanche news as it drops.