Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan has been named the head coach of Team North America at next fall’s World Cup of Hockey.
Co-general managers Peter Chiarelli (Edmonton Oilers) and Stan Bowman (Chicago Blackhawks) announced Friday that McLellan would be in charge of what amounts to a U-24 team, made up of Canadian- and U.S.-born players whose birth certificates still read 23 years of age on Sept. 1, 2016.
Also rounding out the staff, Nashville assistant GM Paul Fenton, New York Rangers special assistant Adam Graves, and Tampa Bay Lightning assistant GM Pat Verbeek were named scouts for the team. Ryan Jankowski was named director of operations.
Finding the 20 skaters for Team North America will be relatively easy. It will be the goalies where this team will have a hard time stacking up against its older competition. Right now Boston’s Malcolm Subban, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Anaheim’s John Gibson are the front-runners, even though all began the season in the American Hockey League.
Teams are not expected to name a roster until March.
