Todd McLellan To Coach Team North America

Since the last day of the regular season, McLellan and the Sharks have “mutually parted ways”.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan will be behind the bench for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

At the 2015 World Hockey Championship, McLellan led Team Canada to its first gold medal since 2007 with a 10-0 record.

“When you have real good players who are used to being on the top two lines of their teams and to put them in there and have them believe this is where they belong and why, that’s the challenge”, Chiarelli said by phone Friday.

Jankowski is Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel and is responsible for player evaluations and selections for all of Canada’s National Junior Teams, including the defending world junior champions. They’ve scored only five goals – one of those was credited to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a power play at St. Louis, but it was actually scored by the Blues’ Alex Pietrangelo – and allowed 13, two into an empty-net. His defensive corps could have everyone from Seth Jones and Darnell Nurse to Aaron Ekblad, Dougie Hamilton, and Connor Murphy on board. Eligible. Mika Zibanejad, Curtis Lazar, and Sam Bennett? Edmonton’s average age is just over 26.

“Connor’s a proud player who’s won in a lot places … he, like a lot of the new players, were supposed to be saviours, but it doesn’t happen that way”. Malcolm Subban is the only Bruins goalie that could be taken from an intriguing prospect duo, but that’s more than enough names for McLellan to ponder already.

The announcement was made by McLellan’s boss in Edmonton (general manager Peter Chiarelli, also serving Team North America’s co-GM), and in conjunction with the unveiling of the club’s management staff.

Verbeek is in his sixth season with the Tampa Bay Lightning and fifth as assistant general manager and director of player personnel, where he oversees all of the team’s professional scouting operations. “They all know what it takes to win at the highest level and we’re looking forward to working together for next September’s competition”.