Vegas Golden Knights: Pacioretty should have been a lock for All-Star game

Marc-Andre Fleury will be the Vegas Golden Knights’ lone representative at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, but should it have been Max Pacioretty?

Now, there is still a chance that Pacioretty could also represent the Vegas Golden Knights in St. Louis next month given that he’s a part of the NHL’s “Last Men In” vote, which opens on Wednesday.

However, both the stats and the eye test suggests that maybe Pacioretty should have been the lock to be the Golden Knights’ lone representative at the 2020 All-Star Game rather than Fleury.

After all, as great as Fleury has been this year, he’s also not been at his vintage best while Pacioretty has been a consistent offensive force for the Knights in 2019-20.

At the midway point of the 2019-20 regular season, Pacioretty leads the team in points with 40 (16 goals, 24 assists), with 13 of those points coming on the power play.

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Pacioretty, who is a +8 rating, has already matched his points total of 40 (22 goals, 18 assists) from last year with the Knights, and the best could still be to come.

As it stands, the elite forward is on pace for 76 points this season which would easily surpass his previous career-high of 67 points set in 2016-17.

Pacioretty also ranks third in the NHL in Shots on Goal with 169, and he’s also on pace to tally 32 goals and 44 assists this year.

And, as if the above wasn’t enough, the 31-year-old leads the Golden Knights in power play points (13) and in goals (16), while he has earned NHL First Star of the Week honors once this season.

So how does Pacioretty compare to other forwards on the Pacific Division for the 2020 All-Star Game?

For starters, he has more points than Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames), Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim Ducks), Anze Kopitar (LA Kings) and Logan Couture (San Jose Sharks).

Pacioretty is just one point behind Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson who isn’t suffering from a sophomore slump, while he’s 20 or so points behind both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who are just on a different level.

But, on that basis, it seems fair to suggest that Pacioretty should have been included on the Pacific Division roster given that he’s been one of the most productive forwards in the division.

He’s carving out a career-year and he has been a consistent force for the Vegas Golden Knights, playing a key role in their success at the top of the Pacific Division.

Granted, the fact that every single team in the NHL must have at least one player at the All-Star Game probably played a factor in this, but it seems harsh that Pacioretty wasn’t a lock for the 2020 All-Star game during a year he’s playing arguably some of his best hockey at 31-years-old.

It goes without saying obviously that we also think Marc-Andre Fleury was a good choice, but maybe he could have replaced Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper who is a doubt for the tournament with a lower-body injury.

Overall, we may be biased but we are of the opinion that Max Pacioretty should have been a lock for the 2020 All-Star Game in St. Louis, rather than be at the mercy of fan votes for the “Last Men In.”

And, on that note, you can vote for Max Pacioretty to be added to the 2020 All-Star Pacific Division roster by visiting NHL.com/Vote or by going to the interactive ballot on the NHL app.

Voting for the “Last Men In” opens Wednesday, Jan. 1, at 12 p.m. ET and closes Friday, Jan. 10, at 11:59 p.m. ET.