4 Nations Face-Off top stories debated by NHL.com writers

The 4 Nations Face-Off is two months away, but the excitement is already at a fever pitch.

Each of the four countries involved -- Team Canada, Team Finland, Team Sweden and Team United States -- announced its full 23-player roster on Wednesday for the best-on-best tournament to be held Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.

The round-robin tournament is the first international event involving NHL players since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

With a few days to digest the 92 players named to play in this tournament, we asked several NHL.com writers what they are most excited about in the aftermath of the roster reveals.

Here are their answers:

Newcomers to join the fun

It’s been a long time since NHL players got a chance to play best-on-best international hockey, dating back eight years ago. That means there’s a generation of players who haven’t gotten to don the colors of their national teams outside of World Juniors or World Championships. The 4 Nations should whet the appetite of the best-on-best rookies for the 2026 Olympics, which will only raise the stakes. When Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Boston recently for the Boston Bruins Centennial game, he said, “The players, including on a one-on-one basis, made it clear to me that this was important.” You can see it in their excitement about this tournament and the one beyond, so I’m thrilled to see players like the U.S.’s Matt Boldy, Jeremy Swayman and Brock Faber and Canada’s Cale Makar and Seth Jarvis, Finland’s Anton Lundell and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Sweden’s Rasmus Dahlin and Leo Carlsson, among many others, get to play for their nations on such a grand stage. – Amalie Benjamin, senior writer

American brothers in arms

Two sets of brothers on Team USA means twice the fun for their families -- and for us -- watching the tournament. Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers will join forces with younger brother Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks will team with younger brother Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils to try to help the United States win its first best-on-best tournament since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. (Keith Tkachuk, father of Matthew and Brady, was on that 1996 U.S. World Cup team.) Maybe the third Hughes brother -- Jack’s Devils teammate Luke -- will add to the family fun when the United States plays in the 2026 Olympics. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be the third international tournament to feature one team with two sets of brothers, following Mikko and Saku Koivu and Jarkko and Tuomo Ruutu playing for Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and Aaron and Neal Broten and Brian and Joe Mullen playing for the Americans in the 1984 Canada Cup. -- Tom Gulitti, senior writer

American advantage in net

We know goaltending is the equalizer to every other facet of this game and that even before full rosters were revealed Wednesday most pundits considered the United States to have the edge in this department. Now, all Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins need to do is prove it. Hellebuyck is statistically the best in the NHL this season after winning the Vezina Trophy as the best at his position last season. Jake Oettinger has had plenty of success internationally, including gold medals at the 2015 World Under-18 Championship and 2017 World Junior Championship. Swayman has bounced back after early-season struggles. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out, particularly since Sweden goalies Filip Gustavsson (Minnesota Wild) and Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey Devils) are right on their heels. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer

Crosby shining in international competition (again)

Sidney Crosby is ageless. Let’s just get that out of the way. And I’m looking forward to seeing the 37-year-old excel on the international stage once again. I mean, look at what he’s done in best-on-best competition in the past. The gold medal-winning goal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a goal in the final en route to another gold medal in Sochi in 2014. He was named MVP in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which earned him another gold. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain rises to the occasion in big moments. It won’t be any different in February in 4 Nations and I’m here for it. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Lights out Laine

Patrik Laine was a surprise addition to the Team Finland roster. The Canadiens forward was traded to the Canadiens from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Aug. 19 but missed the first 24 games of this season because of a knee injury sustained in a preseason game Sept. 28. This after missing all but 18 games last season after breaking his clavicle on Dec. 18 and going into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28. He made his season and Canadiens debut Tuesday, scoring in a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders at Bell Centre. That’s not a lot of hockey for Laine. But his international resume speaks for itself. In 2016, he led Finland to a gold medal at the World Junior championship with 13 points (seven goal, six assists) in seven games. A few months later, he helped Finland to the silver in the World Championship with 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 10 games. He did not score in three games at the World Cup of Hockey eight years ago. After all the trials and tribulations in the NHL during the past few years, it is time for Laine to shine again. He’ll do so at the 4 Nations. – Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

McDavid and Eichel, 10 years in the making

Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel came into the League together in 2015, the first and second selections of the NHL Draft that year, respectively, a Canadian (McDavid) and an American (Eichel) inextricably linked together. You couldn’t say one name without the other when they were teenagers. It was supposed to be not only the start of a terrific NHL individual rivalry, but one that would carry onto the international stage too. There have been moments, of course, like the 2023 Western Conference Second Round, when Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights got the better of McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. But it’ll soon be a decade since they came into the NHL and finally McDavid and Eichel will be on opposite sides of a best-on-best international tournament. They played together on Team North America in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. They have already put together decorated NHL careers; Eichel as a Stanley Cup champion with Vegas and McDavid with his 14 individual awards, including the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season despite the Oilers not winning the Stanley Cup. Now they’ll go head-to-head for a best-on-best prize, a likely prelude to an Olympic showdown in 2026 to boot. Ten years later, the hockey world gets McDavid vs. Eichel. Let’s go! – Dan Rosen, senior writer

Friends becomes foes

The Toronto Maple Leafs were losing 1-0 to the Nashville Predators after 40 minutes on Wednesday and looked lackluster doing it. Then Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner took over in the third period. Matthews scored a pair of goals, each set up by Marner, and Marner then collected a third assist on William Nylander’s eventual game-winner in a 3-2 victory. After combining so smoothly as teammates, Marner was asked what it will be like at the 4 Nations Face-Off when friends become foes, since he’ll be representing Canada and Matthews the United States. “We haven’t talked about it, but it’ll be a lot of fun,” Marner said. It will be all of that. Imagine when Canada’s Connor McDavid goes up against Edmonton Oilers teammate Mattias Ekholm of Sweden. Imagine when Canada’s Sidney Crosby goes up against Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Erik Karlsson of Sweden. Imagine when the United States’ Jack Hughes comes in on a breakaway against New Jersey Devils teammate Jacob Markstrom of Sweden. Imagine when United States goalie Jeremy Swayman sees Canada’s Brad Marchand, his Boston Bruins teammate, closing in on him. Teammates turned opponents. Very cool. Just imagine. — Mike Zeisberger, staff writer