Oilers’ Todd McLellan will coach Team North America at World Cup
Oilers coach Todd McLellan will coach Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Team North America, whose management team is led by Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli and Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman, announced the news on Friday.
"We are excited to name our head coach and management team for our World Cup squad," Chiarelli said in a statement. "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."
Team North America consists of players from Canada and the U.S. aged 23 and under, as of Oct. 16, 2016. Team USA and Team Canada will also compete in the eight-team tournament.
Team North America also added Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton, Lightning assistant GM Pat Verbeek, Rangers executive Adam Graves and Hockey Canada director of player personnel Ryan Jankowski to its staff.
McLellan is in his first season coaching the Oilers, after leading the Sharks to the playoffs six times and the Western Conference finals twice in seven seasons from 2008–2015, with a 311–163–66 record. He coached Canada to the gold medal at the 2015 IIHF World Championships with a 10-0 record.
- Jeremy Woo