NHL and NHLPA contemplating scrapping the all-star game?

As a fan of hockey, I was very disappointed to hear the NHL would not allow any of its players to leave for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. However when Chris Johnston dropped this bomb earlier, I nearly jumped out of my seat in anger.

It has been reported that the NHL and the NHLPA are considering dropping the all-star game in favor of an overseas event to grow the brand in Europe, similar to the mini-series held between the Vancouver Canucks and L.A. Kings during the pre-season in China. However scrapping the all-star game? The 3-on-3 tournament was fun to watch, and finally made the event interesting, and now they want to tear it all down? I don't understand.

Most people believe the plans for an overseas tournament in favor of the all-star game is an attempt at growing the NHL brand in Europe. However this does not make sense to me when you consider Europe already has several hockey leagues available to them, and going over for a weekend probably wont convince them to pay for a subscription to see North American games online, or watching them live at 1-4 AM.

Furthermore, in my opinion, before the NHL should start trying to grow its brand in another continent, they should first try to grow the brand in the area they already occupy. Several teams still struggle to fill their arenas on any consistent basis, and yet they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with knee-jerk decisions like making a team in the middle of the desert... again. Should they not try to grow the brand in Arizona, Carolina, Florida, and a few other cities with NHL teams already there before taking away something like the all-star game to build a fan base in Europe, however small it'll be?

Do you think the NHL should scrap the all-star game? Leave a comment down below