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“I’m really curious how that will work out in Toronto. One city. It’s a new way to do it. You look back at Canada Cups and World Cups, always been multiple cities. They’re just trying to make this a huge attraction in the city. I think they will go through this, look at the pros and cons. And then look at how they could try to take it to the next level.”

If the NHL and the NHL Players Association decide that a single-city approach doesn’t work, the Oilers would have to modify a bid to include an NHL partner, either the Calgary Flames, the Vancouver Canucks or the Winnipeg Jets.

“I think because of our venue, we have a really good starting point, and we’ll see who would want to partner up with us,” said Nicholson.

“The biggest thing is, we need to be consistent. We have to say ‘Hey, we’re doing this every four years’ so it becomes an event people look forward to.”

On Wednesday, Daly started down that path.

“We’re committed to multiple tournaments on a regular schedule,” he said. “Yes, we’re committed to (2020).”

Nicholson is both hopeful and optimistic that the Oilers’ bid will be successful. He said the 2020 World Cup “is built into our plan,” but he isn’t sure when a formal bid will be made.

“I don’t think they will jump on that too quickly. There is huge interest today because of the announcement. Then we’ll see what happens in September and go from there.”

The 2016 version of the event attracted attention on Wednesday as the first 16 players for Canada, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe and Team North America were announced. Oilers star Connor McDavid was named to Team North America, his teammates Andrej Sekera and Leon Draisaitl will represent Team Europe, and Lauri Korpikoski will skate for Finland. The remaining seven players for each team will be named later.

dbarnes@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/jrnlbarnes