Matthews would give up his spot at All-Star Game for snubbed teammates

The NHL released its 2019 All-Star Game rosters on Wednesday and of course, especially Toronto Maple Leafs fans, got talking seeing that a lot of very talented players weren’t chosen to take part in the festivities. 

Each club is represented during All-Star Weekend, which runs Jan. 25-26 in San Jose. The Maple Leafs will be represented by Auston Matthews and John Tavares - great choices, no doubt, however, some fans wondered why great players from the Toronto roster weren’t given a chance. Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner and Frederik Andersen won’t be attending the All-Star Game weekend, while they would have been more deserving considering their play in 2018-19. 

When asked about the situation following the 4-3 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, in which Marner collected two goals, and the star player admitted he was surprised that Marner was left off the All-Star team, per Jonas Siegel of The Athletic. He even admitted he would be willing to give up his spot for one of his teammates. 

“In my opinion, having missed the time I did and seeing those three guys the way they’ve played — John, Mitch and Mo — I think I’d give up my shot for them any day of the week because they’ve had unbelievable seasons and they’ve been great for our team.”

Matthews was voted as captain of the Atlantic Division by fans a few days before the complete rosters were made public. 

Before Thursday night’s action, right after the Leafs’ game, Marner was sixth in NHL scoring with 55 points (15 goals and 40 assists) in 40 games and many people mock the league and fans’ choices to leave him out of the All-Star roster.