Friends, the NHL’s Last Man In voting for the All-Star Game closes on Thursday and that means we’ve only got a couple more days to flood the league’s site and send our man Leon Draisaitl to San Jose to rip up the three on three tournament with Connor McDavid. Oddly, the league chose to ignore our German sensation and for that reason, we must take things into our own hands and get him to ASG ourselves.

First of all, I really don’t understand why we need to be doing this because we all know that Leon should have made the initial Pacific Division roster. The guy is on pace for 102 points this season, a would-be career high by a country mile, and if that doesn’t merit a trip to the annual skills showcase then I have no idea what does. Instead, the league decided to pander to the home crowd and send three Sharks, the only team in the Pacific Division to have more than one representative, so that the San Jose crowd would have something to cheer about. While I understand why they would do this, that doesn’t make it the right decision. The Pacific Division is also the only team with three defenceman on their roster with the potential to add a fourth if Mark Giordano wins the fan vote. Does that make sense? No. It does not. And that’s why we need to step in.

F Johnny Gaudreau, CGY (5th)
F Clayton Keller, ARI (1st)
F Connor McDavid, EDM (3rd)
F Joe Pavelski, SJS (3rd)
F Elias Pettersson, VAN (1st)

D Brent Burns, SJS (6th)
D Drew Doughty, LAK (5th)
D Erik Karlsson, SJS (6th)

G Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK (4th)
G John Gibson, ANA (2nd)

Looking at the current roster, I have a hard time believing that Leon shouldn’t be there in favour or someone like Joe Pavelski. Draisaitl has more points, basically as many goals, and seeing him work a 3-on-3 tournament with Connor McDavid is something the league would want to happen given the fact that they are absolute magic in that setting. Is it because Pavelski is already 34 years old and this could be his last chance? Maybe. That said, what’s done is done and we don’t have the resources or technology to turn back the clocks and pull Pavelski out in favour of Draisaitl, so we’ll have to vote our boy in instead. So who is he up against? Allow me to show you:

Oilers: Leon Draisaitl (F)
Ducks: Ryan Getzlaf (F)
Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D)
Flames: Mark Giordano (D)
Kings: Anze Kopitar (F)
Sharks: Logan Couture (F)
Canucks: Brock Boeser (F)
Golden Knights: Jonathan Marchessault (F)

Looking at the other eligible players for the Last Man In vote, it’s hard not to see Draisaitl as having a legitimate chance of winning this thing but I also think he’s going to need our help. Outside of Mark Giordano who is having an excellent season in Calgary, I can’t see anyone on this list that is more deserving of a trip to ASG and that’s without even mentioning the fact that the Pacific Division already has three defencemen going — you don’t need that many for three on three. So what we need to do is spend the next couple of days voting and sharing the link so that we can right this wrong.

The player with the most votes at the January 10th, 11:59 pm EST deadline will be added to the roster for the ASG and I think we need to work together to make sure that it’s Leon’s name that gets called. If you’re down for the cause, you can vote 10 times per day at NHL.com/Vote or on the interactive ballot found on the NHL app. With the clock winding down, the pressure is on for us to get #29 the ASG spot he rightfully deserves, and I think we can make it happen if we all work together. Gord knows Leon deserves it.