NHL star booed after lackluster effort in Skills Competition

Friday night saw the NHL's elite take the ice at the Rogers Centre in Toronto as 12 of the NHL's best players competed in the 2024 NHL Skills Challenge. Alterations were made to the skills challenge this season including cutting the competition to just 12 players and awarding the winner a $1,000,000 prize.

One of the main reasons the NHL wanted to switch things up was to get better player engagement and have a better effort, like the MLB Home Run Derby where players put on a show for the fans.

For the most part, Friday night was a success as Connor McDavid took home the million dollar winnings and other competitors like Auston Matthews, Elias Pettersson and William Nylander gave the Toronto crowd much to cheer about.

One of the NHL's top players however, was booed for his less-than average effort during the skills challenge.


Two-time Stanley Cup Champion, Art Ross Trophy Winner, and Tedd Lindsay award winner Nikita Kucherov was the center of attention on Friday night, but not for the reason you would think.

Kucherov got off to a great start in the shooting accuracy challenge, but in the challenges after that, Kucherov showed minimal effort, resulting in the Toronto crowd showering him with boo's.


During the passing challenge and stick handling challenge, Kucherov fumbled and got off to a slow start both times, showing a minimal effort to get the puck back and exert himself. This is exactly what the NHL wasn't looking for from it's players.

After the boo's, Kucherov gave an affectionate wave to the crowd as he was eliminated.