December 11, 2012

Nathan MacKinnon listens during Team Red's opening skate during Canada's national junior team selection camp on Dec. 11, 2012. (Lyle Aspinall/QMI Agency)

Nathan MacKinnon didn’t have to wait until he got on the ice to start learning about life with Canada’s junior team.

In fact, he didn’t even have to leave his hotel room to start picking up valuable tips on what it may take to make the squad.

That’s because MacKinnon -- the odds-on favourite to go first overall in this summer’s draft -- is bunking in with the NHL’s top pick in 2011, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.