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Matthews headlines additions to Team North America

2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in Helsinki, Finland

Auston Matthews of USA celebrates after scoring to take the score to 3-0, during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships quarterfinal match between USA and Czech Republic in Helsinki, Finland, on January 2nd, 2016. (Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT - NO SALES

AP

Can youth and talent win out over experience? Team North America, which is compromised exclusively of Canadian and American players born on or after Oct. 2, 1992, will attempt to do just that.

While you can debate the merit of having a young guns team in the World Cup, for many people there is something interesting about seeing the likes of Jack Eichel, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Johnny Gaudreau team up to face the world’s best players. With today’s additions, the projected No. 1 pick for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Auston Matthews, will be joining the squad too.

On defense, Shayne Gostisbehere has been added to the mix after his superb rookie campaign with the Philadelphia Flyers. Another standout from the 2016 rookie class, Colton Parayko, will join him on the blueline.

North America’s already interesting collections of forwards added even more intrigue today. In addition to the aforementioned Matthews, Jonathan Drouin is now on the roster. That illustrates just how quickly the perception of Drouin has changed as earlier this year he was demanding a trade out of Tampa Bay and was even at one time suspended in the AHL for refusing to play. However he ended up being a big part of the reason the Lightning made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final without Steven Stamkos.

The squad also added another first overall pick in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. While he hasn’t emerged as a superstar in the same vein as some other No. 1 picks, he’s a useful addition to this deep core of forwards.

At the beginning of the year, North America’s goaltending looked like a potential weakness, but this team might even hold up in that department. After all, if Matt Murray is good enough to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final, then there’s a chance he’ll be able to hold his own in the World Cup as well. And if not, John Gibson is coming off of a pretty good season himself.

Here’s the full roster for Team North America:

G John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
G Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins

D Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers
D Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers *
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
D Ryan Murray, Columbus Blue Jackets
D Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues *
D Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
D Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets *

F Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers
F Jonathan Drouin, Tampa Bay *
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
F Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
F Auston Matthews, Zurich (Swiss) *
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
F J.T. Miller, New York Rangers
F Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers *
F Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets *

* named to roster today

One player that stands out for his exclusion is Max Domi. He’s coming off of a strong rookie campaign where he scored 18 goals and 52 points in 81 contests with the Arizona Coyotes. His talented teammate Anthony Duclair also failed to make the cut. It’s also somewhat surprising to see Calgary’s Dougie Hamilton and Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau not make the team. You could easily include Alex Galchenyuk in the list of snubs too given that he’s coming off of a 30-goal campaign.