While the number one focus of Edmonton Oilers general manager, Stan Bowman, is surely his search for a replacement for recently fired head coach Kris Knoblauch, he should try to find time to take in as many games of the World Hockey Championship as possible. There's something unique about this international tournament that differentiates it from the Olympics or the recent Four Nations, and that difference is why it's worth spending the time as a GM.
When a best-on-best tournament like the Milan Cortina Olympics occurs, fans get an opportunity to see the greatest players on the planet playing side by side. Players who will most likely never play side by side in the National Hockey League, because many of them are a "franchise player" in their own right. But at the IIHF Worlds, because it takes place during the NHL Playoffs, we get to see something different.
Ice time
Of course Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby will get the headlines, but it's that second tier of good-to-great players that NHL GMs should be paying the most attention to. These players, many of whom would normally exist on third lines or second pairings, will see increased opportunities, including advancement to top powerplay units or scoring lines. Some of them will be overcome by the moment, but others just might show that they have more to give.
Take a player like Parker Wotherspoon of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Drafted in the same year as Connor McDavid, it has taken him until this past season to find a permanent spot in the NHL. But in the short time that Team Canada has asked him to patrol the blue line, he's managed to build a plus-7, along with scoring a powerplay goal.
Forward flashing skills
Similarly Fraser Minten of the Boston Bruins is showing an edge to his game. He's managed a goal and two assists, along with two penalty minutes, in three games played. The former draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs has a single year left on his entry level deal, and with the Bruins looking like a team set to rebuild in the coming years, he might be seen as expendable by their management group.
Minten is a better player today than he was when he was drafted, and looks like a decent bet to make. If his Team Canada production continues at the same rate, the asking price might go up.
And of course, no International tournament article would be complete without mentioning that Evan Bouchard is looking great at the Worlds. Chewing big minutes and tilting the ice, just like he did in Edmonton all year long.
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