2025 4 Nations Face-Off ‘great opportunity,’ Eichel says

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel was on his couch, watching tennis, when the phone rang. It was Bill Guerin, the Minnesota Wild general manager and general manager of the United States team for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

Eichel was on the team.

The Vegas Golden Knights forward would be among the first six players named to the U.S. team, alongside forwards Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) and defensemen Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins), Adam Fox (New York Rangers) and Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks).

“It was such a huge honor,” Eichel said. “There are so many great American players right now that could have easily been selected in that group, and yeah, I just feel really fortunate to be one of those guys. Because I know that there are so many deserving players in our League.”

They chatted about the experience, about Guerin’s expectations, about what can be.

“Super excited,” Eichel said of playing in the international tournament between the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden from Feb. 12-20. “I think it’s going to be such a unique event. And obviously it feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve seen international hockey at the highest level.

“It’s almost like there’s a new generation of players on each side, but you still have some of the guys that have been doing it for a long time, so I think everyone’s excited. We’ve never played together before. There’s a lot of familiarity from either going through the national program together or world juniors, so I think everyone’s excited about it.”

Plus, for Eichel, there’s another benefit: The games will be played in Montreal and Boston, the latter being Eichel’s hometown. He’s already anticipating his father needing to turn off his phone with all the requests for tickets.

The 27-year-old last played for the U.S. at the World Championships in 2019 and 2017.

But the last time that the hockey world gathered for a best-on-best tournament was eight years ago, at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Eichel, then 19, was part of Team North America, “The Young Guns” team comprised of 23-and-under players from the United States and Canada.

“That was such a unique experience with the fact that we were all young and probably a little bit naïve, but at the same time you’re not representing your country, so there’s definitely a different component when you put on the red, white and blue and for Canada, when they put on the maple leaf,” Eichel said. “There’s definitely a sense of pride that comes with it.

“For a lot of the guys that represented Team North America, we were just having fun. Just like any competitor, we wanted to win. But there’s always a little different element to it when you’re representing your country, something that’s bigger than you.”

Of course, they wanted to win. But Team North America ultimately did not make it past the round-robin stage of the tournament, losing a chance at the knockout round on a tiebreaker with Team Russia.

“It was a really unique experience and I know [when] you talk to guys that played on that team, we had a blast,” Eichel said. “Wish it could have been longer and wish we would have done better, but definitely an experience I will never forget.”

Not only will the 4 Nations be an opportunity for fans -- and players -- to experience best-on-best hockey again, but it will whet the appetite for the NHL’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, when Eichel was still with the U.S. National Team Development Program.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get better or get together and see where we’re at,” Eichel said. “And I’m sure the other three countries that are playing feel the same way. I don’t want to call it a dress rehearsal because I know when we get out there, how competitive everyone is and we’re going to want to win just like everyone else does.

“But the fact that we haven’t had that international play in so long, I think it’ll be a great trial run prior to the Olympics of, OK, what do we as a group work on, where do we stand, how do we feel going into that. So, it should be a great experience.”