The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break is officially upon us, and with it, we’re starting to get our first look at how these four teams will line up for the tournament, which kicks off on Wednesday when Team Canada takes on Team Sweden. With Quinn Hughes opting out of the tournament while he deals with an injury, Elias Pettersson (Sweden) and Kevin Lankinen (Finland) will be the Vancouver Canucks’ only representatives at the tournament.
Both Canada and the USA skated this morning. Here’s how they lined up.
Canada
Like Hughes, Sidney Crosby had to decide if he would be able to play at the tournament after suffering what appeared to be a wrist injury. Crosby elected to go, and today, skated on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone. Canada’s second line features Sam Reinhart and Mitch Marner on Connor McDavid’s wings, and even the bottom six could be any NHL team’s first line. If this isn’t a stacked lineup, I don’t know what is.
Early Forward Lines for Team Canada:
Stone-Crosby-MacKinnon
Reinhart-McDavid-Marner
Marchand-Point-Jarvis
Hagel-Cirelli-Bennett#4Nations
— Parker McLean (@ParkerMcLean15) February 10, 2025
Also, good luck stopping this power play unit.
PP1 at Team Canada 🇨🇦 practice:
Makar
McDavid – Reinhart – MacKinnon
Crosby
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 10, 2025
Crosby shared after morning skate that he will play vs. Sweden on Wednesday. The captain also talked about the skill his team boasts and the challenges of playing at an international tournament like this.
“It’s exciting,” Crosby said. “Obviously a ton of talent, a ton of skill. Having to think, move quickly and be instinctive but also reaact to some of the plays that they make. I think that’s fun. It’s challenging but the biggest challenge is just becoming a team and getting sharp. Today was the first step for that.”
USA
As for Team USA, they too showed off a fairly stacked lineup. Auston Matthews centres the second line with Jake Guentzel and Jack Hughes, while ex-Canuck JT Miller slots in with Brady Tkachuk and Matt Boldy on his wings.
Team @usahockey lines
Connor-Eichel-Matthew Tkachuk
Guentzel-Matthews-Hughes
Brady Tkachuk-Miller-Boldy
Nelson-Trocheck-Larkin and Kreider rotating
Slavin-Fox
Werenski-McAvoy
Hanifin-Faber
Sanderson
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 10, 2025
Jake Sanderson, who was named as Quinn Hughes’s replacement, skated as an extra. Imagine this team and this blueline with Quinn Hughes on it?
USA plays their first game of the tournament against Finland this Thursday.
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