UNIONDALE, N.Y. — It’s come down to this for Blackhawks mainstay Jonathan Toews: If he wants to go to this year’s All-Star Game, he has to win the Last Men In fan vote.
The Central Division team has one spot remaining, and it’ll be determined by an online vote that starts at 11 a.m. today and runs through Jan. 10. Toews is one of seven candidates on the ballot; Each team gets one nominee for the last spot on its division’s team.
Here are the choices in the Central:
F Jonathan Toews, CHI
F Gabriel Landeskog, COL
F Tyler Seguin, DAL
F Zach Parise, MIN
F Filip Forsberg, NSH
F Vladimir Tarasenko, STL
F Patrik Laine, WPG
Whoever wins that vote will join a Central team that already has Hawks winger Patrick Kane. Kane was an obvious choice with 22 goals and 28 assists heading into tonight’s game at the Islanders. He ranks eighth in the league in scoring (50 points), fourth in the Central.
Toews hasn’t ever been the offensive juggernaut Kane is, but his numbers are up from last season, when he missed the All-Star Game for the first time since 2014. He has 16 goals and 20 assists.
Here’s where he stands among the seven options for the Last Men In vote in the Central:
Goals
1. Laine, 24
1. Landeskog, 24
3. Parise, 17
4. Toews, 16
Assists
1. Seguin, 23
2. Landeskog, 21
3. Toews, 20
4. Parise, 16
Points
1. Landeskog, 45
2. Toews, 36
2. Seguin, 36
4. Parise, 33
Voting will open at NHL.com/vote and on the NHL app this morning. Fans can vote in any or all of the four divisional races with a maximum of 10 ballots in a 24-hour period.
