A Canadian, an American, and one stiff draft-day rivalry.
It seemed the only place Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were ever going to play together was on NHL 17.
Then Team North America head coach Todd McLellan took control of the joystick over the weekend in Quebec City, and tonight in Montreal, McDavid, Eichel, and Johnny Gaudreau will hop over the Bell Centre boards as the latest top unit for the U-24s.
“Who better than to play with than those two?” asked McDavid, the newly minted captain of Team North America. “It’s whatever works and whoever we find chemistry with, that’s ultimately what will happen. If it’s us three, then perfect.”
The fact that McDavid is the only Canadian on this line is evidence this World Cup will be the only forum we could ever see this trio work together. With all three being franchise players — and Gaudreau being a Calgary Flame — the chances of them ever landing on the same NHL roster are almost nonexistent.
“These kind of tournaments give us the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world,” said Gaudreau. “All of us young guys, we’re having a pretty good time here.”
Clearly, this Team North America concept is a departure, and still has some unanswered questions, no doubt. But a once-in-a-lifetime line like this defines the allure of the Under-24, Canadian-American concept.
Avant-garde uniforms and a roster full of the game’s young stars who — for the most part — would be preparing for their club team’s training camps if not for Team North America. Credit management with adding to the curiosity by naming Auston Matthews to this roster, and McLellan for pairing up two players in McDavid and Eichel who will be inextricably linked for the durations of their careers.
“I still believe that the world is watching this team because there are so many young, tremendous players. They want to know the [line] combinations and they’re aware of them,” McLellan said. “Just the overall vision and hockey IQ of that line is very high. I think we’ve got a couple real good quick skaters there. The ability to win face-offs, left- and right-handed side. We should have the puck and have possession.”
“I haven’t played wing in a while,” added Eichel. “I’m kind of excited about it. It’s something different. Playing with two players like that, it’s pretty enticing.”
It doesn’t stop there.
Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, who teamed up for 180 points in less than 50 games during their last junior season together with the Halifax Mooseheads, have been reunited on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. That’s two No. 1 overall picks and a No. 3 in Drouin. The Tampa Bay left-winger used to put together 10-goal weekends with MacKinnon back in the ‘Q’.
“For me and Nate, those big weekends were something pretty cool,” said Drouin.
“We were dominant. It was junior but the way we connected was very special,” said MacKinnon, who was the best player on the ice in a 4-0 pre-tournament win over Team Europe on Thursday. “It’s more fun to score now because it’s a lot harder. I don’t want to hype it up too much, but I think we’ll be flying come Sunday.”
We expect so much from these first-overall picks when they’re drafted into a men’s league at age 18. MacKinnon is now 21 and just might come of age in this tournament, if Game 1 is any indication. Nugent-Hopkins is two years older but coming off a disappointing season when a broken hand cost him 27 games.
The second of the litany of first-overalls in Edmonton, Nugent-Hopkins finds himself as a second-line centreman for the foreseeable future with McDavid having landed in Edmonton. His role here as the second-most experienced North American player (behind Sean Couturier) will involve killing penalties and winning faceoffs, something that has yet to become a strength.
Five years after being drafted, Nugent-Hopkins is finally looking like an adult, physique-wise, and the pains of being forced into action too soon like so many other Oilers is bearing fruit as the 23-year-old has already played 313 NHL games.
He’ll be expected to keep an eye on the defensive zone as MacKinnon and Drouin try to resurrect some chemistry, while Matthews will be protected by Mark Scheifele and Brandon Saad, two elder statesmen here who know their way around the defensive zone.
“You could put a list of names in a hat and pull them out randomly, and it would be fun to play with anyone,” said Gaudreau. “It was fun to watch Jack play in college, and playing in Calgary I saw a lot of highlights of [McDavid].”
Now, time to make some.
