TORONTO -- The border battle between forwards Connor McDavid of Canada and Jack Eichel of the United States, the projected top two picks in the 2015 NHL Draft, never fully materialized at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Still, each player certainly had his fair share of highlight-reel moments.
In the end, McDavid added a WJC gold medal to his trophy case while Eichel went home empty-handed for a second straight year in what will likely be the final opportunity for each player at the tournament designed for the best junior-aged players in the world.
Each player is expected to be making contributions in the NHL in 2015-16.
"I think the team picking first [at the NHL Draft] needs to give equal consideration to each of them," NHL Network analyst Craig Button said. "Neither one of them has given me any reason to change that outlook."