In February, we will see the first best-on-best international tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. It will be called the 4 Nations Face-Off hosted in Montreal and Boston. The four nations participating in this tournament are Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden. Today those four countries announced the first six players to feature in their respective teams for the tournament. A Leafs duo will be featuring in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
No surprise
Auston will represent USA at the #4Nations Face-off! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Sb1RFs7CDq
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 28, 2024
How Swede it is 🇸🇪
Willy has been selected by Sweden to compete in the #4Nations Face-off! 👏 pic.twitter.com/YyFsPrYLQE
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 28, 2024
Matthews and Nylander Among the First Batch
The Toronto Maple Leafs have two stars that have been selected for two different teams. Auston Matthews has been selected by Bill Guerin to Team USA and William Nylander has been selected by Anders Lundberg to represent Sweden. The Leafs duo have represented their nations before at the World Championships, but never in a best-on-best situation. However, Matthews did get a taste of what that’s like as he played for Team North America. On that team, he played with a few players who had recently been selected for Team Canada. He, along with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Brayden Point all shared the ice in the 2016 tournament.
The Leafs duo are coming off incredible seasons and deserve to be the first names selected to the 4 Nations Face-Off. Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goalscorer with 69 on the season. On the other hand, Nylander is coming off a career-year only finishing two points shy of the century mark. Team USA and Team Sweden will be stacked with talent, but this Leafs duo will lead the charge for their teams at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
One player from the Leafs not selected for the 4 Nations Face-Off is Mitch Marner. While he didn’t have the same season as the other two, he is a part of that three-headed dragon in Toronto. It will be interesting to see if he will get picked by Doug Armstrong later in the calendar year.
Main Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
