TORONTO — Connor McDavid likened the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend to a reunion for one of the most exciting international hockey teams ever assembled.
McDavid was talking about Team North America, one of the two league-made entries added to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. It was a group of U-24 players from the United States and Canada, and it was a window into the sport’s future.
Among players who were NHL All-Stars this season, that team included McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Connor Hellebuyck, Morgan Rielly, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trochek. McDavid referenced that team because the NHL announced a planned return to best-on-best international hockey during All-Star weekend, the first time since Team North America wowed the sport eight years ago.