The United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden have announced the first 24 players selected for the 4 Nation Face Off tournament, and Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy will take a break from leading the Bruins to compete for their countries.
Any player selected to represent his national association must be under an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024.
The associations will submit the balance of their rosters later this year, between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, and they will include three goaltenders, though Finland has already selected one netminder thus far.
McAvoy will be joined on defense for the US by the Canucks’ Quinn Hughes and the Rangers’ Adam Fox.
Last season, McAvoy skated in 74 games for the Bruins, tallying 47 points (12 goals, 35 assists). The 26-year-old has appeared in 454 games over his career, and maintains a plus-144 rating. He has played in five tournaments on the international circuit, most recently in 2018 when USA Hockey won bronze at the World Championships.
Forwards Jack Eichel (Golden Knights), Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs), and Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers) also will skate for the US. Team USA will be led by general manager Bill Guerin and head coach Mike Sullivan.
On the Canadian side, Marchand will join forces with the Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, and the Lightning’s Brayden Point. Canada has selected just one defenseman so far, Cale Makar of the Avalanche.
Marchand appeared in all 82 games of the 2023-24 season and has spent 16 years with the Bruins. Among all active NHL players, the 36-year-old ranks first in plus-minus (plus-292), 12th in goals, 13th in points, seventh in game-winning goals (77), and first in shorthanded goals (36).
Marchand has won gold with Team Canada four times: in 2007, 2008, and twice in 2016 at the World Championships and the World Cup of Hockey.
Team Canada will be overseen by Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and associate general manager Jim Nill, but no head coach has been announced.
The Finnish Ice Hockey Association has named goalie Juuse Saros of the Predators, who will be defended by Dallas Stars skaters Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell. Finland rounded out its six players by selecting three forwards: Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes), Aleksander Barkov (Panthers), and Mikko Rantanen (Avalanche).
Sweden chose similarly to USA Hockey, opting for three defensemen and three forwards. Mika Zibanejad (Rangers), Filip Forsberg (Predators), and William Nylander (Maple Leafs) will be up front, while Gustav Forsling (Panthers), Victor Hedman (Lightning), and Erik Karlsson (Penguins) will be on the blue line.
Montreal and Boston will be the host cities for the tournament, which will be held in February.
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