The NHL All-Star festivities began this evening in Toronto. Tonight was the first player draft in quite some time but this is just the beginning with the skills competition tomorrow, followed by the games on Saturday. The draft concluded with Sebastian Aho being selected by Team MacKinnon.
It is always a great stage for players like Aho who seem to go under the radar of the NHL stardom. Not only is the spotlight nice but the chance to play with some very skilled players will be fun to watch for Aho. You never know, these players could be available for the Canes in the future to pair with Aho.
Former Canes' forward and new acquisition of the Vancouver Canucks, Elias Lindholm will be on the same squad. Lindholm will be a free agent this summer. The Canucks seem to like making big trades around the All-Star game. Last year they traded their captain, Bo Horvat, to the New York Islanders.
Joining Aho on MacKinnon and Cale Makar's squad are Tom Wilson, Travis Konecny, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jeremy Swayman, Kirill Kaprizov, Alexandar Georgiev, and last but not least Sidney Crosby.
It will be interesting to see who Aho will be paired with during the mini-tournament. Being a 3-on-3 tournament, Aho will get a chance to play with most, if not all, his new teammates. Being a teammate of a division rival, Tom Wilson will be odd but safer with him on your side.
Hopefully, this weekend will give the NHL world and its fans a chance to see the greatness that is Sebastian Aho. Either way, the long-time Carolina center earned this achievement and I hope he makes the most of the fun weekend.