In the wake of Auston Matthews impressive performance at the World Championships last week, the chances of the 18-year-old presumptive top pick in the 2016 NHL Draft being selected for the Team North America's roster for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey have improved dramatically.
The rosters for the eight clubs competing in the tournament have to be completed before June 1st.
The 23-and-under squad selected their initial 16 players in early March. Only four defensemen (including Morgan Rielly of the Leafs) were chosen initially, which means that three or four of the remaining picks will be blueliners.
The forwards selected include six players who primarily play center in Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Sean Couturier, Dylan Larkin, Sean Monahan and Nathan MacKinnon and Matthews would have beat out Alex Galchenyuk, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Max Domi, Robbie Fabbri and Jonathan Drouin to make the club.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman indicates that there could be a marketing component to Matthews being included in the tournament, since he is likely to be the Maple Leafs top pick at the NHL Draft next month and his inclusion may drive ticket sales in Toronto.
The World Cup training camp for the "Young Guns" squad begins in either Quebec City or Montreal on September 4th, followed by three exhibition games before the tournament starts on September 17.
The Leafs play in the annual rookie tournament in London from September 16 to 18. With the World Cup in Toronto, the Leafs may choose to open training camp outside of the GTA (as they did last season in Halifax, NS) and could play the bulk of their exhibition games on the road, in between World Cup games at the ACC or at alternate venues such as Ricoh Coliseum.
London's Mitch Marner with one of his four assists in the Knights 5-2 win over Rouyn-Noranda on Tuesday
The question is whether GM Lou Lamoriello and Leafs management is in favor of the 18-year-old franchise cornerstone missing his first training camp and spending time getting acclimated to the NHL and his teammates instead of playing in a league created media event.
A case could be made that since Leafs head coach Mike Babcock will have little or no contact with the team during training camp while coaching Team Canada, that Matthews playing with the top young players in the game would be beneficial to his long term prospects.
Thoughts and best wishes to Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip.
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