QUEBEC CITY, Quebec -- Team North America has named Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid its captain for the World Cup of Hockey. Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Philadelphia Flyers forward Sean Couturier are the alternates.
McDavid is expected to be an eventual captain in Edmonton, and this gives coach Todd McLellan a close-up look at McDavid's leadership abilities.
"On a team full of future NHL captains, we have a strong leadership group on Team North America," McLellan said in a release. "In particular, these three players -- Connor, Sean and Aaron -- have identified themselves in camp as key leaders for our team."
McDavid doesn't have as much NHL experience as many of his Team North America teammates with just 45 NHL games on his résumé. But he won the gold medal in both the World Junior Championships and Men's World Championships for Team Canada, scoring the game winner for Canada against Finland in the gold-medal game.
"It doesn't matter if you have a letter or not, you're a leader in this room," McDavid said when asked about the captaincy earlier this week. "The beauty of us having a young team is everyone is going to have a voice."