It will be hard to overlook the head-to-head battle between the likely top two picks in the NHL draft when Canada faces the United States at the world junior championship.  Debate has raged for at least two years on whether Canada's Connor McDavid or American Jack Eichel will go first at the 2015 draft in June.  But before that is settled, the gifted teenagers will face each other in a showdown for first place in their preliminary round group at the Bell Centre on Wednesday afternoon.  While both insist the game is about the teams and not themselves, many fans in the seats and viewers on television will be comparing the play of two of the best junior prospects to emerge in recent years.  "It's there a little bit," McDavid said Tuesday of the Connor versus Jack sideshow. "It's been something that's been there for a long time now, but at the end of the day, it's the U.S. against Canada. It's not me against anybody else."  "It's not all about me versus Connor, it's a huge matchup for the top seed in our bracket," he said.  Eichel, who turned 18 on Oct. 28, was named captain of the American squad despite his youth, while Canada made McDavid, who turns 18 on Jan. 13, an alternate to captain Curtis Lazar.  It is rare for a so-called "underage" player at the mostly 19-year-old tournament to wear any letter at all, but these two are special talents.  Both are great skaters. Both have sublime hands and playmaking ability. Both pile up points, although neither has had a breakout game at the world juniors yet.  After three games each, McDavid has a goal and two assists, all collected during a 4-0 win over Germany. Eichel has a goal and a helper.  In the Ontario Hockey League, the six-foot-one 187-pound McDavid has 16 goals and 51 points in only 18 games for the Erie Otters. Before the world juniors, he hadn't played since Nov. 11 after breaking his right hand in a fight.  The six-foot-two 193-pound Eichel has eight goals and 27 points in 16 games for Boston University playing against slightly older competition in the NCAA.  "You always want to be a difference maker, whatever game it is," said the soft-spoken McDavid. "Obviously it's a bigger stage, but that doesn't make a difference."  Although McDavid and Eichel have never really met off the ice, they've faced each other before at under-17 and under-18 events. They also both played at last year's world junior championship in Malmo, Sweden, although neither was in a leading role at that point in their development.  "For us, it's Canada versus the U.S., not Connor versus Eichel," said Groulx.  "I can't answer for him, but I think a lot of media have been talking about Eichel and McDavid, so I think they're used to it. But Connor is a team player and he thinks more about us winning than him versus Eichel."
Two top draft prospects will be in the spotlight when Canada and the U.S. faceoff Wednesday during preliminary round play.