For the first time since 2021 and for the first time in a full NHL season since 2014, there is no NHL All-Star Game as it was replaced by the 4 Nations Face-Off (which has turned out to be much more electric and exciting than the usual All-Star festivities.)
With no All-Star Game comes no All-Star selections. Being named one is a big honour and is both a testament to a player’s elite skill and a fun piece of journalistic filler (“such and such is a insert-number-here time NHL All-Star.”)
The Winnipeg Jets, first place in the entire NHL currently with 39 wins and 81 points, have three players participating at the 4 Nations Face-Off, but would have have been even more well represented at the 2025 All-Star Game had there been one. Here, we’ll look at four players who would have been shoo-ins.
Kyle Connor
Connor, playing for the U.S. at the 4 Nations, would have been participating in his third All-Star game (previously selected in 2022 and last season) owing to his historic pace.
The top-line right winger, with 30 goals and 39 assists for 69 points to lead the Jets and sit sixth league wide, is on pace to be the first Jet in 2.0 history to reach the 100-point plateau. Skating with Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi, he is an important contributor on one of the league’s most-productive lines.
That he hasn’t played a huge role at the 4 Nations, with one assist in three games in just 12:27 of average ice time, is just another example of how underrated he is (outside of Winnipeg, who knows well how skilled he is.) That’s despite being one of the league’s top goal scorers (11th league wide with 273) since 2016-17, his first full season.
Connor Hellebuyck
Connor Hellebuyck has been the NHL’s best goaltender this season by a long shot. In the first year of a seven-year extension, he is not only the heavy favourite to win his second-straight and third-career Vezina Trophy, but is also firmly in the Hart Memorial Trophy conversation for the league’s most valuable player.
The four-time All-Star (2018, 2020, 2023, and last season) leads the league in most major statistical categories and holds a 34-7-2 record, 2.06 goals against average (GAA), .925 save percentage (SV%), and 27.8 goals saved above average. His 4 Nations performance as the U.S.’s starting goaltender has been an extension of his strong campaign as he went 2-0-0 in round-robin play with a 1.00 GAA and .957 SV%. He and Connor will strive to win the tournament Thursday against Canada.
Josh Morrissey
Morrissey, who first emerged as an elite force in the first season Rick Bowness served as head coach (2022-23, when he was named an All-Star for the first time) is excelling on the Jets’ blue line once again.
Related: Jets Well Represented on TSN’s Top 25 NHL Players Ranking
The only Jet playing for Canada at the 4 Nations, the 29 year old has racked up 46 points (seven goals, 39 assists) and a plus-8 in 56 games in a top-pairing role. He is on pace to record 65-plus points for the third-straight season and while his possession metrics are down a bit from last season, he is once again in the Norris Trophy conversation and would have easily garnered a second-career trip to the All-Star game.
Mark Scheifele
Scheifele is the only hypothetical All-Star who isn’t participating in the 4 Nations as Canada snubbed him in their roster selection (he was on call in case the banged-up Sidney Crosby couldn’t play, though.)
The Jets’ top-line centre and two-time All-Star (2018, 2019) has potted 31 goals this season — six higher than his output last season in 18 fewer games — and has added 32 assists for 63 points in 56 games. He is scoring on an eye-popping 25.2 per cent of his shots and is on pace to have the eighth point-per-game-plus season of his career.
He seems to have used the 4 Nations snub as motivation to raise his game to an even-higher level. In the 30 games since Canada announced its roster on Dec. 4, he has put up 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points and been held off the scoresheet just even times.
Although there was no All-Star Break, the Jets have been enjoying time off since Feb. 7 due to the 4 Nations. They are back in action Saturday, Feb. 22 in St. Louis against the Blues and will look to extend their winning streak to nine.