GettyImages-2153691151

EDMONTON, AB – Oilers forward Connor McDavid and defenceman Mattias Ekholm will don the 'A' for their respective countries at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal and Boston this February after being named alternate captains for Canada and Sweden.

McDavid will join Colorado blueliner Cale Makar as alternate captains for Team Canada, with Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby set to serve as captain. The Oilers captain said earlier this season that Canada's captaincy should go to Crosby because of his veteran leadership and experience from winning two Olympic gold medals, including in 2010 in Vancouver where he scored the golden goal and one as captain in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

McDavid is set to pull on the Red & White of Canada for the first time since the 2018 World Hockey Championship in Denmark, and will compete for the first time in best-on-best competition since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where he suited up for Team North America.

Ekholm will serve as an alternate captain for Sweden alongside Toronto forward William Nylander and Pittsburgh defenceman Erik Karlsson, while Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman is the captain.

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected

      Mattias speaks ahead of Thursday's game against the Red Wings

      The Edmonton blueliner has experience representing Tre Kronor at five World Hockey Championships, along with the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The 34-year-old won gold with Sweden at Worlds in 2018 and earned a bronze medal during his senior international debut in 2014.

      "Obviously, a huge honour," Ekholm said on Thursday. "Victor's a great leader, so kind of a no-brainer for me that he was going to be the captain, and just speaking for myself, I think it's a tremendous honour to be an assistant captain for your country and I'm gonna do everything possible and everything I can to make the team as good as possible and then hopefully, we can make some noise."

      The two Oilers skaters were also just named to Edmonton's Quarter Century Team, celebrating the club's top players since Jan. 1, 2000 as part of the league-wide initiative.