"Injuries, especially up the middle, dismantled our team and we needed someone to be a No. 1 center," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, who is coaching Canada at the World Championship. "That kid … we put him in the role and he flourished in it. He made everyone else around him better. It's been an unbelievable growth year for him. I know there's other rookies in the league whose names have overshadowed his, but he was arguably one of our top players all year and we don't make the run we did without Brayden Point."
Without injured forwards Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette, and wih the Lightning having dealt Valtteri Filppula and Brian Boyle at the NHL Trade Deadline, Cooper moved Point up the depth chart onto a line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. The combination clicked.
"To play with those two guys was a great privilege," Point said. "They make the game so much easier. It was a lot of fun. You definitely know you've got great players, some of the best in the league, on your line.
"At the start I was a little more nervous because I wanted to make plays with those guys."
Cooper said playing for Canada should help Point's confidence.
"Mentally, it solidifies him sitting here saying, 'I've found my way to the NHL,' but all of a sudden the World Championship team gets picked and he's one of the guys that's asked to go," Cooper said. "Players excel on their confidence. The more confident they are the better they get.
"This will do nothing but help somebody's confidence to sit here and say, 'Wow, I'm playing with some exceptional players from the National Hockey League against the best players in the world and I'm doing well.' I think it's his confidence that's going to help."