The NHL revealed the players selected for the upcoming 2022 All-Star Game on Thursday. The rosters are headlined by familiar faces like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Nathan MacKinnon, but there are also 18 first-time All-Stars.

Each division's team will still have one player added to its roster as fans will be able to vote for the "Last Men In." Fans won't be able to choose from just anyone, though. Each NHL team has a designated player that can be voted for. Here's a look at each team's nominee:

The NHL requires each team to have at least one representative at the All-Star Game, which, quite frankly, is just silly. It rewards undeserving players on bottom-feeding teams and punishes elite clubs for having too much talent.

Here are our five biggest snubs, both from the initial All-Star rosters and the nominees for the Last Men In.

Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

No matter how well he plays, Marchand still doesn't seem to get the respect he deserves. He's one of the most dominant players in the league once again, scoring at a 56-goal and 114-point pace this season. This isn't anything new for Marchand; since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, only McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have more points than him.

The Bruins forward simply dominates the competition whenever he's on the ice, regardless if it's at five-on-five, shorthanded, or on the power play. He hasn't been able to totally shake the pest label he rightfully earned, but simply put, he has been one of the NHL's biggest stars for years now and should be showcased among the league's best.

Jacob Markstrom, Calgary Flames

John Gibson and Thatcher Demko got the nod in net for the Pacific Division, leaving Markstrom in the dust. Both goaltenders certainly have great cases to be All-Stars, but Markstrom has arguably been the best of the three. His 11.82 goals saved above average ranks seventh among all goalies in the NHL, and his .926 save percentage ranks sixth. Both of those marks are ahead of Gibson and Demko.

Johnny Gaudreau rightfully got the call as the Flames' representative, but Markstrom should have been one of the two goaltenders for the division. An easy solution here could have been for Troy Terry to be the Ducks' player selected. The youngster is having an incredible season as he's fifth in the NHL in goals (22) and has been one of the team's most important players.

Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche

Rantanen drew the short straw here simply because the Avalanche have too many good players. He entered Thursday seventh in league scoring with 40 points in 30 games, and it's ludicrous that Clayton Keller is on the team over him. No disrespect to Keller, but the Coyotes winger has only tallied 26 points in 34 games. Those are solid numbers but not worthy of an All-Star spot. He made it simply because Arizona has nobody better.

The Avalanche deserve at least four All-Stars, including Rantanen - one of the game's brightest young stars. But now, he's snubbed just because the Coyotes had to have a representative.

Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers

Ekblad has been in the Norris Trophy conversation all season for his strong play. The Panthers blue-liner entered Thursday fifth among defensemen with 32 points in 35 games, eighth in average time on ice at 25:19, and 15th in expected goals percentage at 56.4%.

Yes, Jonathan Huberdeau and Barkov are both worthy representatives for the Cats. However, Ekblad is clearly more deserving of a spot on the team than Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres and Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens. Heck, Suzuki is a forward, and Ekblad still has 13 more points than him.

Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers

The Metropolitan Division is stacked between the pipes. Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry are both having sensational seasons, but you could argue that Shesterkin has been even better. Here's how the three netminders stack up in save percentage, goals saved above expected, and goals saved above average:

All three are pretty close, but Shesterkin has a slight edge. The key difference is the Penguins and Hurricanes are two of the best analytical teams in the league, ranking second and fourth, respectively, in expected goals percentage. The Rangers, meanwhile, rank 21st, meaning Shesterkin is responsible for bailing out his club more than the other two.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving-Hockey)

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With the qualifying and round-robin games finished, the NHL is moving on to its traditional 16-team playoff format.

Each series will now be a best-of-seven as usual, but instead of the normal bracket, teams will be re-seeded after every round.

Let's take a look at the eight matchups.

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (12)

*If necessary

The Flyers absolutely dominated during round-robin play, winning all three games and not trailing once. Montreal showed it's a legitimate threat after easily disposing of the highly touted Pittsburgh Penguins. Can the Canadiens keep the underdog train rolling?

Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (9)

*If necessary

This is a rematch of last year's Round 1 clash in which the Blue Jackets pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in league history, sweeping the powerhouse Lightning. This time around, though, they'll be trying to prevail without the departed Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky - all of whom were fantastic in that series. The Bolts, however, could be without Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.

Washington Capitals (3) vs. New York Islanders (7)

*If necessary

The Capitals may have finished the season with the league's fifth-best record, but after going 1-2 in the round robin, they settled for the No. 3 seed in the East. The Islanders' strong defensive play was too much for the Florida Panthers to overcome, setting up a first-round battle in which New York bench boss Barry Trotz will face his old team.

Boston Bruins (4) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6)

*If necessary

Boston was the NHL's best regular-season squad, but the Bruins couldn't muster a round-robin win. They slid to the No. 4 seed and are preparing for a tough first-round matchup against the Hurricanes - the only team that swept its opponent in the qualifying round.

Western Conference

Vegas Golden Knights (1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (12)

*If necessary

The Golden Knights glided through the round robin, going 3-0 to secure the top spot in the West. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks stunned the Edmonton Oilers in four games, and they'll look to keep that momentum going.

Colorado Avalanche (2) vs. Arizona Coyotes (11)

*If necessary

The Avalanche cruised through the round robin, and now they're finally fully healthy. The Coyotes managed to squeeze past the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round largely thanks to netminder Darcy Kuemper's elite play. But will they be able to contain Colorado's high-octane offense that averaged the fourth-most goals per game (3.37) during the regular season?

Dallas Stars (3) vs. Calgary Flames (8)

*If necessary

The Flames took care of the injury-plagued Jets in four games during the qualifying round, but now the stingy Stars will test them. However, Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop are both considered day-to-day, making their Game 1 availability uncertain.

St. Louis Blues (4) vs. Vancouver Canucks (7)

*If necessary

This could be a compelling series. The Blues didn't look very sharp in the round robin, but the defending champions are battle-tested. Meanwhile, this will be the first taste of real playoff hockey for Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, and the youthful Canucks.

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Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

The NHL and NHLPA have intensified talks about a potential plan to resume the season, and Toronto and Columbus are the leading contenders to become two of the host cities, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.

Initial reports indicated that as many as 12 NHL cities were being vetted as possible destinations.

The latest proposal floating around this week discussed the idea of the NHL using up to four hub cities and bringing teams to station in each of them to play out the remainder of the games. The cities will need to have an existing NHL team, rather than using neutral sites that were talked about earlier.

Commissioner Gary Bettman told Sportsnet's Ron MacLean Wednesday that the cities they're looking into need to meet certain requirements in order to be considered. The city can't be a hotspot for COVID-19, arenas would need at least four NHL-caliber dressing rooms and practice facilities nearby that meet NHL standards, and there would need to be a suitable four- or five-star hotel nearby to house the players.

Within the framework of this idea, teams will hold training camps for up to three weeks at their assigned centralized locations before games begin.

The NHL will need to listen to local governing bodies when making decisions as well. After the league began exploring Edmonton and Calgary as potential destinations, Alberta's chief medical officer clarified that gatherings of more than 15 people will be prohibited until at least September, ultimately ruling out the two cities.

One of the glaring issues on the NHLPA's agenda for a return to play amid the pandemic is the concern for a number of players with pre-existing health issues. That includes players such as Max Domi, who has Type 1 diabetes, and Brian Boyle, who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2017 but has been in remission since 2018.

There are also a number of questions that remain unanswered. A decision needs to be made regarding European players and whether they will be able to return, what the daily lives of players quarantined in hotels for weeks will be like, and how the league will handle the testing of its players and staff. Brooks added that these questions will all be a part of discussions in the coming days.

The NHL and NHLPA will continue to hold conference calls in the near future to determine if a return is a plausible scenario.

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