Jonathan Drouin added to Team North America for World Cup

Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft, made believers out of Team North America co-general managers Peter Chiarelli and Stan Bowman.

Matthews was one of seven players added to the Team North America roster for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey on Friday. He is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of international skaters for the draft, which will be held at First Niagara Center in Buffalo on June 24-25.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound native of Scottsdale, Ariz., could be the first American-born player to be the first pick of the draft since the Chicago Blackhawks selected Patrick Kane with the first pick of the 2007 draft.

Also named to Team North America were forwards Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers) and Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets), and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia Flyers), Colton Parayko (St. Louis Blues) and Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg Jets).

Matthews, 18, will be the youngest player on the roster. He led the United States with six goals at the 2016 IIHF World Championship and tied Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) for the lead with nine points. Larkin was one of the first 16 players named to Team North America on March 2.

Matthews also played against older, more experienced competition this season with Zurich in National League A, the top professional league in Switzerland. He won the Rising Star award and finished second in voting for the league’s most valuable player …

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