Colton Parayko Adding His Name To The World Cup's Team North America Discussion

At the World Cup Of Hockey next year, Team North America will be young - full of guys 23 years old or younger. It will be full of guys ineligible to play for either Team Canada or Team USA, but with Peter Chiarelli and Stan Bowman in charge of choosing that team, it means that they will be good.

Even if Chiarelli thinks they're the underdog, which is odd to say for a roster that looks like an all-star team: Brandon Saad, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nathan McKinnon, Aaron Ekblad, Jacob Trouba, and Dougie Hamilton are all shoe-ins.

Someone whose name hasn't been mentioned as a candidate was the Blues' impressive rookie, Colton Parakyo. Parayko, 22, has ten points (five goals, five assists) in 15 games, has played over 20 minutes a night on many occasions, and has an absurd 42 shots on goal, which is sixth overall for defensemen. He is also tied for the league lead in game winning goals, with three. He shares that distinction with players like Patrick Kane, McKinnon, Evgeny Malkin, and Phil Kessel.

His name's starting to be mentioned with Ekblad and Trouba's too.

Chiarelli mentioned yesterday that Parayko has landed on their Team North America radar:

In Toronto for NHL GM meetings Tuesday, Chiarelli was asked about Parayko, the rookie defenseman who before facing New Jersey was tied for ninth among all defensemen with 10 points through 14 games.

"Parayko was not on our list," Chiarelli said. "I saw him early against us, Edmonton, and he really stood out. So he’s in the discussion."

His name's also in the Calder Trophy discussion as well.