NHL

The other two finalists are Patrick Kane and Matt Moulson. St. Louis is a two-time winner of the award, but this time capturing the trophy would carry with it some extra meaning. He would join Stan Mikita and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to win both this award and the Art Ross Trophy in a single season. St. Louis had 60 points and 14 penalty minutes in 48 games.

St. Louis feels confident about the players currently on the roster and said there's "no way" the Bolts can't turn things around next year. "[General manager] Steve Yzerman is a smart guy," St. Louis said. "He's been in every situation. His experience, his knowledge, I have full confidence in what he's trying to do. I feel some of his pain because he wants to win and it hasn't gone the way he'd like to the last couple of years. It's a tough act to follow after the first year we go to the conference final (in 2011) and we're one game away from the Stanley Cup final. I always feel when you set the bar like that it becomes a pretty big responsibility."

This should not be a surprise. Stamkos has scored four goals and registered nine points in leading Canada to a 4-0-1 record.

The veteran winger will be in tough for the award against young stars Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington's Alex Ovechkin. St. Louis won the trophy back in 2004 when it was known as the Pearson Award and he led the NHL in scoring in 2013 with 60 points in 48 games. He also led the league with 43 assists.

He has one year left on his contract with Ufa of the KHL but his deal has a buy-out clause, according to Murray. If he doesn't play overseas then he could skate for Mississauga in the OHL, since they own his junior rights, or with Syracuse in the AHL. Vasilevski was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft.

At this point, we have to imagine European clubs just wish Stamkos' Lightning would make the playoffs and leave them alone. Edmonton teammates Taylor Hall (two goals) and Devan Dubnyk (13 saves) also aided Canada's cause. With the win, Canada is second in its pool with seven points, trailing only Switzerland's eight points.

The Lightning are excited to add a promising young player, but they're also more than willing to be creative with the pick. "We feel pretty good,'' director of scouting Al Murray said. "I think this year at three gives you lots of opportunity that you might get the No. 1 player on your list because everybody sees it a little differently. 'There is a legitimate chance we could get the No. 1 guy on our overall list at three, which gives (general manager) Steve (Yzerman) the flexibility to look at moving back or moving it for a player. I think anybody in the top five has a prospect that is very close to playing in the NHL and playing at a high level, so that's a very valuable pick this year. And I think teams will look at it that way. So, I think it gives us a lot of opportunity this year because the asset is that good.''