The National Hockey League has selected Elias Lindholm to represent the Calgary Flames at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto, Ontario. He was one of the 32 players announced for the All-Star festivities on Thursday evening. 12 more players will be added to the event via fan vote.

It’s Lindholm’s first trip to the All-Star festivities in his career.

The 29-year-old Lindholm is a bit of a selection out of left field. Yeah, he’s the Flames’ first-line centre and one of their alternate captains. And yeah, he’s an important player on the club that’s first over the boards in every game situation. But the pending unrestricted free agent hasn’t exactly had a fantastic first half to the season.

Through 37 games, Lindholm has eight goals and 24 points for the Flames. He’s tied for fourth in goals on the club – behind Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri, and tied with MacKenzie Weegar. He’s third on the club in points – behind Coleman and Kadri. He is, however, the leader in average time on ice among Flames forwards. He’s tied for 150th among NHL forwards in goals, and tied for 96th among NHL forwards in points.

Nevertheless, the All-Star Game is a unique animal, where the league’s hockey operations department does their best to juggle between the event’s positional requirements, star power, honouring strong performers, and ensuring every team is represented. Selecting players for the All-Star Game is a challenging gig where it seems basically impossible to make every fanbase happy.

The 2024 All-Star Weekend goes Feb. 1-3 in Toronto, including teams being drafted on Feb. 1, the skills competition on Feb. 2, and the three-on-three tournament on Feb. 3.