World Cup Hockey: Vincent Trocheck Added To Team North America

Gary Bettman helped bring back the World Cup in hopes of having another avenue of showcasing the top hockey player’s across the globe.

Trocheck will join Aaron Ekblad on team ‘North America’, which is comprised of players from said continent that are also 23 years old or younger. Jussi Jokinen and Aleksander Barkov are the two other players from the Panthers who will participate in the tournament, both with team Finland.

Sean Monahan was originally slated to play, but an injury sustained while training for the upcoming season has forced him to drop out of the tournament.

Among other notable names Trocheck will be teaming up with – Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Johnny Gaudreau, Nathan MacKinnon, and Dylan Larkin.

While North America’s roster is loaded with high end draft picks, including five former first overall picks, Trocheck was a third round pick. He exploded onto the scene last season, posting career highs across the board, registering 53 points (25 G, 28 A) in 76 games.

The Pittsburgh native was awarded for his breakout season, being awarded a six year, $28.5 million contract.

Before the tournament starts though, teams will participate in exhibition ‘warm up’ games. Team North America kicks off their warm up games on September 8 against Team Europe. After back to back games against Europe, they close out their exhibition games against Czech Republic.