While most eyes will be on Team North America in terms of how a disparate group of youngsters from competing nations will come together in a short period, the same dynamics exist on an even greater scale for Team Europe.
Seven different nations were represented by Wednesday's roster announcement. So the challenge for the coaching staff under both head coach Ralph Krueger and Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who will assist Krueger, is producing cohesion. What makes the job easier is that this is a team blessed with leaders from their respective NHL clubs.
In fact, one of the most difficult challenges for the coaching staff might be who to name captain among Zdeno Chara, Mark Streit, Anze Kopitar and Marian Hossa.
There is a good blend of speed and skill among the forward group and the defense will be led, skill-wise, by Roman Josi, who has emerged as a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman in the past couple of seasons.
But where the concern must lie for this group is durability and a lack of depth, especially along the blue line if players are unable to play.
Chara is 38. Hossa is 37. Dennis Seidenberg is 34. Streit is 38. All have battled injuries and there are potentially long playoff runs ahead for Hossa and maybe Chara and Seidenberg.
Up front, the one name absent from the initial list of 16 players is Stanley Cup-champion Marian Gaborik of the Los Angeles Kings. Gaborik has struggled offensively this season and is now out of action with injury.
Should he return and have a productive playoff for the Kings, it would be no surprise if Gaborik is among the final seven players named to the roster, although he will have competition from youngsters Nikolaj Ehlers and Tobias Rieder.
And, finally, in goal both Frederik Andersen and Jaroslav Halak have enjoyed stronger play of late and, in fact, Andersen is part of a resurgent Anaheim Ducks team that could once again enjoy a long playoff run.
It's not a stretch to suggest the goaltender that enjoys the most playoff success would establish him as the starter next fall and that the goaltending will say much about the team's ability to establish itself as a dark horse to go deep in the tournament.
Another element for Team Europe that will make them unique is that about half their roster -- basically all the players who are not from Slovakia and Switzerland -- will be playing in Olympic qualifying tournaments in various locations around Europe just before the start of World Cup training camp the first week of September.
GM Miroslav Satan said the qualifying tournaments could be helpful because it will give some of his players extra game time before the World Cup but it also raises the specter of injury.
Satan said there were as many as 10 scouts, coaches and management staff who had a voice in making roster decisions. They specifically did not look at the nationalities involved but rather wanted to pick the best players available to them. The same principles will be in place for the final seven players, Satan said, although he acknowledged these final picks might be the most difficult.
As for trying to form some sort of cohesion out of a group of players who hail from different nations, not to mention different NHL teams, Satan believes that the natural competitiveness that pro athletes like these possess will come through very quickly, even if Team Europe represents a new entity.
"I think when the puck is dropped, they will forget everything else," Satan said.