William Nylander, Auston Matthews among headliners at NHL 4 Nations Face-Off

Toronto Maple Leafs star forward William Nylander was one of six players named to Sweden’s roster for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament Friday morning.

Nylander is joined by Filip Forsberg, Mika Zibanejad, Gustav Forsling, Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson as part of Sweden’s initial rollout for the tournament. Finland also named its first six players as Juuse Saros, Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho were all appointed to the national team.

Auston Matthews was also named as one of the first six players to be named to the United States’ team. Matthews is joined by Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy and Adam Fox. Toronto’s superstar forward won several accolades with the U.S. National Team as a junior, winning the World U-17 Hockey Challenge gold medal in 2014, consecutive gold medals at the IIHF U18 worlds in 2014 and 2015 — where he captured MVP honours while leading the tournament in scoring during the latter event.

One of the NHL’s most dynamic talents, especially off the rush, Nylander has always performed exceedingly well for his country. Nylander registered seven goals and 14 points in 10 games during the 2017 IIHF World Championships and was named tournament MVP, leading Sweden to the gold medal. He also led the 2019 IIHF tournament in scoring, and won a gold medal during the 2013 U-17 World Hockey Challenge.

Toronto’s star winger is coming off the best season of his career, posting 40 goals and 98 points in 82 games, while starring for the Maple Leafs during the NHL Global Series held in Stockholm. Nylander was a down-ballot Hart Trophy candidate for the first half of the season, then signed an eight-year, $92-million contract extension with the Maple Leafs in January. He battled through severe migraines, which kept him out of the opening three games of Toronto’s first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Nylander submitted the finest performance of his career in Game 6, but ultimately the Maple Leafs lost in overtime of Game 7.

The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is set to take place from February 12-20, 2025 in Boston and Montreal.