COLUMBUS -- One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey that was announced Saturday is the addition of two teams that are not representing one country in particular.

In addition to the traditional power nations of Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic, there will be a team of players from other European countries and a North American Youngstars team made up of players 23-and-under from Canada and the United States.

The exact rules to determine who will be eligible for the North American Youngstars team have not been set, but speculation on who will make that team, as well as Team Europe, will run rampant from now until the first 16 players for each of the eight teams must be named March 1, 2016.

NHL.com decided to take an initial run at predicting the rosters for the two teams. For the Youngstars team, a cutoff birth date of Sept. 18, 1992, was used because all players born after that date would still be 23 on the day the tournament starts on Sept. 17, 2016. There was also no minimum number of players that needed to be taken from Canada or the United States.

COLUMBUS -- Patrick Kane was 8 years old, but his memories remain vivid today.

The Chicago Blackhawks forward recalled watching the United States defeat Canada to win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey when the latest edition of the event, to be held in Toronto in 2016, was announced Saturday.

That victory had a huge impact on a generation of American-born players, with 22 to compete alongside Kane in Toronto in 2016.

David Backes of the St. Louis Blues and Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks were 12 at the time, Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild was 9, and Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens was 8, to name a few of the players who might have been influenced by that landmark victory for the United States program.

The first World Cup competition since 2004 will feature national teams from the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic, and there will be two all-star teams, one made up of the top 23-and-under North American players and another featuring the top NHL players from the European countries that aren't already represented by their national teams, including Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Norway, Denmark and Latvia.

"A two-week, best-on-best international tournament that promises to be one of the best competitions in hockey history," Commissioner Gary Bettman said in describing the vision for the World Cup. "Everything we've been focused on has been to make this a great exciting tournament. A North American Youngstars team and a team of the best NHL European players from outside the ‘Big Four’ European countries enables us to include more of the very best players in the world who might otherwise have been left out of the competition."

1938 - The Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings play a series of postseason exhibition games in Europe. This is the first overseas tour by NHL players.

1959 - The Boston Bruins and New York Rangers make the second tour of Europe by NHL clubs.

1965 - Swede Ulf Sterner becomes the first European-trained player to appear in an NHL game as his New York Rangers defeat Boston 5-2 (1/27/65).

1969 - The first European-trained player is selected in the NHL Draft as the St. Louis Blues take Finland's Tommi Salmelainen 66th overall.

1970 - Canada withdraws from international competition over a dispute as to whether professional players should be permitted to compete in international events. Canada would not compete in IIHF events until the 1977 World Championships.

NEW YORK/TORONTO -- The World Cup of Hockey will return in September 2016 in Toronto, Canada when eight teams, comprised of the world's best hockey players, compete for a best-on-best international hockey championship, the National Hockey League (NHL®) and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) announced today. The World Cup of Hockey is a joint effort of the NHLPA and the NHL, in cooperation with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is expected that more than 150 of the best players in the NHL will participate in this tournament in what should be the biggest celebration of the game.

The eight teams will be divided into two Groups of four, and each will compete in three tournament games within their assigned Group in a round-robin format. The top two finishers in each Group will advance to a single game semi-final against a team from the other Group. Winners of the semi-final games will advance to a best-of-three final round. All tournament games (round-robin, semi-final and final) will be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto from September 17 - October 1, 2016.