Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel can boost power play

MONTREAL -- Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are about to demonstrate what they can do together when they combine their talent on the Team North America power play.
The No. 1 and No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft were together again on a unit with forwards Mark Scheifele and Brandon Saad when Team North America practiced for a third consecutive day at Bell Centre on Wednesday in advance of the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

Eichel is enjoying the opportunity to team up with McDavid, who was chosen ahead of him by the Edmonton Oilers before he was selected by the Buffalo Sabres.
"You know, I've been around him before, I've spent some time with him, so I know him off the ice, I know how he is," Eichel said. "He's a good dude, he's good to be around, but we all get along and it's a really good group. I mean just getting to spend time with these guys you don't know and they're all pretty similar and have similar interests, we're enjoying the experience right now and looking forward to playing."
Defenseman Shayne Gostibehere quarterbacked McDavid's power-play unit instead of Aaron Ekblad, who was switched to the other unit by coach Todd McLellan.

"We're rotating back and forth and figuring out which unit we're going to be playing with, but we're just trying to do the job that is laid out for us," Ekblad said. "There's a game plan, we're going to follow it. I'm not going to tell you what that is. We know what we're doing."
That game plan will be unveiled when Team North America plays its first pretournament game against Team Europe at Videotron Centre in Quebec City on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN, TVA Sports).
"It's going to be a good test for us," Eichel said. "The power play has got to be pretty important in this tournament for us, and I think we realize that, and we have to take advantage of all the opportunities we get. [Gostisbehere] has some pretty good talent back there on the point, and you have Saad and Scheifele. I'm just trying to get open and shoot the puck. "
McLellan is comfortable using one defenseman with four forwards on the power play. He acknowledges there is risk, but considers Gostibehere a special player who is capable of handling the responsibilities that go along with that formation.
"He's got some poise and ice in his veins when he's got the puck, great vision," McLellan said of the Philadelphia Flyers defenseman. "I think Gostisbehere could man two power-play units. Ekblad's going to get a lot of minutes 5-on-5, penalty killing, all over the place, that's where Shayne can come in and almost man both for a little while. So we wanted to see him with either unit and make sure that he's ready to go there.

"But that quarterback is important. He initiates almost everything. On the breakout, he initiates the reads and what's coming at him, and then in the offensive zone he's got to have some vision and be creative from the top, but he's also got to have some responsibility when there's four forwards on the ice. You can't always trust four forwards."
McLellan said he and his coaching staff felt Team North America made the most of its three practice days here before leaving for Quebec City.
"We talked about maximizing every day and having the opportunity to grow our team," McLellan said. "We have introduced the players to some structure in each of the three zones and some special teams, probably jammed too much in, but we needed to do that prior to Game 1. We are stressing that we don't want to slow players down by having them think their way around the ice. They're very instinctive players, they're skilled, read and react, make sure you're responsible in each situation, and fall back onto the structure that we've tried to put in place, so I think it's been productive."
Ekblad emphasized the importance of quickly forming a bond and gave the coaches credit for pulling the players together in a short period of time.
"You've got to come together and build chemistry and know where guys are going to be," Ekblad said. "And with the right leadership that we have, the coaches, we're in good position. Todd McLellan is laying out a blueprint for us to follow and we're really trying to buckle down and execute as best we can. And that's the most important thing to me."