Auston Matthews, author of 69 goals this season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be the leader of the American team at the 4 Nations Showdown next year, in Montreal and Boston.
The United States will compete against Canada, Sweden and Finland from February 12-20, 2025.
In addition to Matthews, Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), Adam Fox (New York Rangers), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) and Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins) saw their place in the team to be confirmed on Friday. The rest of the group of 23 Americans will be revealed in the coming months.
Matthews had a career-high 107 points in 81 regular-season games. His 69 goals represent the most in a single season since 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux also scored 69. He closed his year with four points (one goal, three assists) in five playoff games.
In addition to winning the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer, the 26-year-old forward was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Trophy, awarded annually to the NHLPA’s most outstanding player. He finished third in voting for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the defensive forward of the year, and the Lady Byng Trophy, awarded to the gentleman player. Those honours went to Aleksander Barkov of the Panthers and Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes, respectively.
The first overall pick in the 2016 draft, Matthews has 649 points (368 goals, 281 assists) in 562 regular season games since the start of his career. He added 48 points (23 goals, 25 assists) in 55 playoff games.
Tkachuk finished second on the Panthers with 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists) in 80 games, then had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 24 playoff games. He helped the Floridians win the Stanley Cup for the first time in team history.
A native of Arizona, Tkachuk was selected sixth overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames. He has 579 points (218 goals, 361 assists) in 590 regular-season games with the Panthers and Flames, and 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 71 playoff games.
