NHL All-Star participant ballot: Biggest trash talker? Next out of doors sport? NBA-style playoffs?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —With the Atlantic Ocean at their again and the nice and cozy sea breeze of their hair, the NHL All-Stars confronted a bruising spherical of questioning at Thursday’s media day. Jack Hughes confronted the music, having to declare a favourite Taylor Swift music and sheepishly admitting he didn’t know the titles of any.

The scandal is ongoing. A neighborhood South Florida reporter requested gamers what their favourite Latin American nation is; Rasmus Dahlin shrugged and stated “Mexico,” but it surely was extra of a query than a solution. There was loads of tire-pumping about Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and even LeBron James.

In this hard-hitting journalistic atmosphere, The Athletic’s trio of dogged investigative reporters — Mark Lazerus, Michael Russo and Jesse Granger — got down to ask the hardest questions but. Like who talks quite a lot of smack, and what a cool outdoor-game website can be.

About 20 All-Stars participated, however not everybody answered each query. They had been simply too hard-hitting, we suppose.

1. Should the NHL prolong three-on-three additional time to 10 minutes with a purpose to have fewer video games determined by shootouts?

Yes: 12
No: 4

Pete DeBoer, Dallas coach: “We’re 2-10 in overtime, so I’m looking for any other options.”

Jason Robertson, Dallas: “We need more shootouts because we can’t win three-on-three.”

Troy Terry, Anaheim: “(The shootout) is kind of one of the only reasons people knew who I was as a hockey player a few years ago. I think it’s got a place in the game. But I do think the three-on-three overtime is exciting for the fans, and it feels more like hockey for us. I think it’s great for the game. If that was extended, I think that would be a great idea.”

Jack Hughes, New Jersey: “I don’t know who wants to watch shootouts. When you get a chance to see all the special players play three-on-three, there’s so much ice out there. I don’t know who would want to see it go into a shootout anymore. I think if they make it 10 minutes, the game’s going to be finished. Man, like as a player, three-on-three is so fun. It kind of sucks, you go into a shootout, you’re like, ‘Ugh,’ because you’re missing out on really cool plays and more opportunities to show their game.”

Chandler Stephenson, Vegas: “Yeah. But it’s a fine line with that, too, because some guys could be at 20 minutes, or a D-man could be at 30 minutes, and now you’ve got to play eight minutes of a 10-minute overtime.”

Mikko Rantanen, Colorado: “Shootouts are always a flip of the coin, you know? So I think 10-minute three-on-three would be a good idea.”

Juuse Saros, Nashville: “Shootouts are fun to watch.”

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg: “Fans love shootouts, but from our standpoint, we don’t love a shootout loss. Three-on-three is the same kind of deal as a shootout. I think it’s just for the fans.”

Seth Jones, Chicago: “I think you’re going to see a lot more games end in that last five minutes as guys start getting tired, because usually (teams) use the same guys throughout. It’s tough when you play 65 minutes of good hockey and you don’t get rewarded because you get beat in a shootout.”

Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina: “I like shootouts. I don’t know, I just like them.”

Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo: “When you lose, yeah. When you win, no.”

2. Should the NHL develop the playoffs with an NBA-style play-in spherical involving the 7-10 seeds in every convention?

Yes: 2
No: 14

Jones: “I don’t want the play-in. If you’re a top-eight team, and you play 82 games and you get that eight seed, or even the seven seed — I don’t know if it’s unfair (to have a play-in series), but I think if you’re in that position, you’ll think it’s bulls—.”

Rantanen: “In my opinion, the 1-8 system that was before this divisional matchups (setup), I think that was (best). I didn’t play through that, I was a younger guy then, but I remember watching them and I think that’s the most fair way to do the playoffs.”

DeBoer: “As a coach speaking, I don’t get into all the marketing, but if you finish (as the one seed), you feel like you’ve earned the right to play the 16th-place team. That’s just real.”

Terry: “I enjoy watching the play-in rounds for the NBA. I think it’s exciting.”

Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis: “It would be fun one year to play (the) top-eight teams East teams against the top-eight West teams. It might be interesting to see.”

Hellebuyck: “I would be supportive of that. I think the more teams that make the playoffs, the better for the league. It’s more money for the owners to make and the more games for fans to see.”

Robertson: “Last year, I had a taste of coming down to the wire trying to make the playoffs, and that’s a lot of fun. More play-in games doesn’t do it for me. Plus, with how long the season is, that’s too much hockey.”

Dahlin: “I can’t complain about what the NHL has right now. I haven’t been in the playoffs yet, so I don’t really know what it’s like.”

3. Who talks essentially the most smack on the ice?

Brad Marchand: 5
Drew Doughty: 2
Ryan Reaves: 1
Cal Clutterbuck: 1
Rasmus Andersson: 1

Robertson: “You see all the stuff (Marchand) does. He’s never said a word to me yet, but I’ll probably never say a word to him.”

Saros: “I don’t know about smack, but Drew Doughty’s always talking and it’s mostly funny stuff.”

4. What’s your favourite highway metropolis?

New York: 6
Florida: 4
Las Vegas: 4
Dallas: 2
Chicago: 1
Vancouver: 1
Montreal: 1
Los Angeles: 1
Arizona: 1

Terry: “Other than going home to Denver, probably Vancouver. It was the first city I ever went to when I signed out of college. And that hotel’s amazing there. That spoiled me for hotels on the road.”

Stephenson: “New York’s pretty cool, just for the hustle and bustle and the restaurants.”

Jones: “Florida. We stay out here (on the beach) now. We used to stay in Sunrise, and I wouldn’t have said that then.”

Hellebuyck: “I really like Dallas. I can go do some bass fishing. I love my days off in Dallas.”

Svechnikov: “Can I say three? New York, Chicago and Las Vegas.”

5. Where ought to the NHL maintain an outside sport subsequent?

Florida: 2
Lake of the Woods: 2
Lake Louise: 1
“One of the Great Lakes”: 1
Alaska: 1
London: 1
Angel Stadium: 1
Rose Bowl: 1
Los Angeles Coliseum: 1
MetLife Stadium: 1
Mile High Stadium: 1
Wrigley Field: 1
A European soccer stadium: 1

Stephenson: “The Tahoe game was cool, right by the lake. Something scenic like that would be cool. One of the Great Lakes? I don’t know. I’m not really too familiar with a lot of the lakes in the States.”

Dahlin: “Alaska would be nice. That’d be cool, right?”

Nazem Kadri, Calgary: “I wouldn’t mind seeing an outdoor game overseas. Maybe in one of those soccer stadiums. Just thinking out loud here. That’d be cool.”

Brock Nelson, N.Y. Islanders: “I hear Warroad’s getting Hockey Day in Minnesota, so that’d be a fun place for a Winter Classic. Lake of the Woods. Let’s see if they can put some bleachers up there. That’d be fun.”

Photo from Bruins vs. Flyers at Lake Tahoe space in 2021. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)

6. There are rumblings that there may very well be preseason video games in Australia subsequent season. What international website ought to the NHL go to subsequent?

Helsinki: 3
Italy: 3
London: 2
Davos/Switzerland: 2
Greece: 1
Ireland: 1
Siberia: 1
Moscow: 1
Spain: 1
Latin or South America: 1
Sweden (“way up north”): 1
Australia: 1

Rantanen: “I think London would be cool. Grow the game to London. It’s not even that far from the States.”

Jones: “Italy would be kind of cool. You can kind of get a little vacation in and sight-see while you play.”

Tarasenko: “Siberia. Hometown people will be very happy.”

(Top photograph of Nazem Kadri: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI by way of Getty Images)