At the outset of World Cup training camp, North America defenseman Aaron Ekblad was asked about Auston Matthews, and he expressed a little bit of envy about the opportunity the No. 1 overall pick was going to get.
Matthews was getting a shot at playing hockey at its highest level, with and against the best players in the world, before ever setting foot in training camp as a rookie.
The route Matthews has taken to his rookie season now becomes a one-of-a kind route. He played with and against pros in Switzerland. Then he played with and against the world’s best in Toronto. Now, he gets to start his NHL career with the knowledge that he can compete at the highest level.
Matthews was already confident in his ability, but this just reinforced what he believes. He’s going to be very good this season, perhaps better than we initially realized.
A tournament like the World Cup can have that impact. Brent Burns went to the 2015 World Championships and was the best defenseman in that tournament. He followed it with a Norris Trophy-worthy season. The Blues really believe that the exposure in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi benefited Alex Pietrangelo greatly. Drew Doughty used the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as a launching point into his career.
Matthews may be the best example from this year’s tournament, but here’s a group of players who benefited most from the World Cup and may use it as a springboard to success this season:
Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
McDavid was already going to have a big season in 2016-17 no matter what, but this tournament further showed just how good he truly is. It was also important for him from a leadership aspect. He was the captain of Team North America and by all accounts was strong in that position. It’s only a matter of time before he gets the "C" in Edmonton.
His comfort level is considerably higher than it was last season, both in dealing with external distractions like the media, as well as his play on the ice. He knows what is ahead of him this season in the NHL and because of it, his confidence is higher.
“You know what to expect more,” McDavid said. “You take a certain comfort in that.”
Colton Parayko, D, St. Louis Blues
Parayko started as the extra defenseman for Team North America, and by the time the tournament concluded, he was as important as anyone on that defense.
He showed a willingness to try to make plays on the ice; he has a big shot and a reach for days.
Combine this tournament with the playoff he had last spring, and he starts the season at a different level than he did a year ago when he was breaking into the league.
“He’s a really down to earth and smart kid, I don’t think he overthinks things,” said Blues teammate Jay Bouwmeester. “He has a really good attitude for that, where experiences like this can really help a guy like that. [He will] realize that 'I can play here, I can be a really good player at this level.'”
Tomas Tatar, W, Detroit Red Wings
Tatar was a big reason Europe was able to overachieve as much as they did, and that’s good news for Detroit. They’re loaded with forwards, so this does one of two things: Boost his trade value as they look for a defenseman or give him a positive performance on which to build heading into this season.
“I’ve known him for a long time. He’s playing hungry,” said Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. “He’s hungry around the net.”
Because of this, he’ll no doubt be hungry for more playing time than he received in Detroit last season, where his ice time dropped from 16:13 per game to 14:21 last season during Jeff Blashill’s first campaign behind the bench.
Mattias Ekholm, D, Nashville Predators
When you first looked at the Team Sweden defense, Ekholm wasn’t a name that immediately popped out. It’s hard to be a standout on a defense with Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Victor Hedman. He said he even wondered how his game would stack up with his fellow Swedes.
He didn’t need to be worried.
He fit in just fine on that defense, and can go back to Nashville even more confident he’s ready for an expanded role that awaits him this season.
“He’s been really good,” said Nashville and Sweden teammate Filip Forsberg of Ekholm’s play during the tournament. “He’s following the rush, playing solid defense and killing lots of penalties. Just watching him on a regular basis in Nashville, he’s taking steps every year I’ve been here.”
Morgan Rielly, D, Toronto Maple Leafs
Because Rielly has played on such a bad team in Toronto, it’s been tough to evaluate just how high he projects as an NHL defenseman. It’s pretty high.
He was great at times this tournament, and Mike Babcock seems to really like him in Toronto. With so much young talent at forward in that organization, it’s important that Rielly continues his positive growth, and this tournament showed how well he can play when surrounded by proper talent.
“He has the ability to play both sides of the puck; offensively he’s been tremendous,” said Todd McLellan, his coach during the World Cup. “He’s defended well. He’s been able to take huge minutes on. I had a high appreciation personally for the way he played the game, but it’s gone way up now.”
Nathan MacKinnon, F, Colorado Avalanche
We’ve fallen for MacKinnon before. He was so good against the Minnesota Wild during the 2014 playoffs, skating with another gear that nobody on the ice could match. His blinding speed was such a weapon in Colorado’s counterpunch game, and it looked like he was going to rocket to stardom. He scored 14 goals the following season.
But watching MacKinnon play so effectively on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jonathan Drouin, it rekindled the notion that he is one of the game’s best players.
He’s such a strong skater, but his play in front of the net was a revelation. He showed a knack for tipping the puck, and enjoyed the physical battle that came with being a net-front presence.
When relayed that bit of information, his Colorado teammate Gabriel Landeskog agreed with the observation. He was also quick to point out that the net-front job in Colorado isn’t vacant.
“I’ll definitely challenge him for that spot,” he said. “I like being there too.”