Auston Matthews is cool, calm and collected leading Team USA into the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, where he’s expected to lead his country to victory. It’s gold or bust for Team USA in a new era of prosperity, and the Maple Leafs’ star is at the forefront of their bid for hockey supremacy.

There hasn’t been a best-on-best tournament in nine years, and Team USA is loaded with talent at all positions. Connor Hellebuyck’s superiority in goal may be the difference for USA, although the team faced a set-back, when Quinn Hughes was ruled out of the tournament. It’s a testament to its riches that Jake Sanderson can replace Hughes and slot in on the first pair without missing a beat, as the Ottawa Senators’ defenceman is an all-world skater who is excellent at chance suppression. Jaccob Slavin is perhaps the NHL’s best defensive defenceman, Adam Fox is in the running for this distinction as well, as Team USA can win games in a number of different ways, which bode well for a short tournament.

Matthews leads the attack up front, where he’s expected to play alongside Jack Hughes — something that Hughes informally requested earlier in the season, and they’re expected to be joined by Jake Guentzel. Kyle Connor leads all Team USA players with 30 goals, while Guentzel can be slotted throughout the lineup as head coach Mike Sullivan sees fit. It’s a deep team that can score throughout the lineup, with the ability to shut down the world’s best offensive talent.

Matthews is the Maple Leafs’ lone representative for USA, and it seems important to him that he wins a gold medal for his country in the first men’s best-on-best tournament he’s participated in — he played for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup a month before his rookie year started, and you can get the sense that playing for his actual country, rather than a collection of under-25 talent means the world to him. Toronto’s captain will be playing a major role, while Leafs fans are praying that Sullivan and company manage his minutes responsibly, given that he’s missed 15 games with an upper-body injury this season. If Matthews can lead USA to gold, it will help separate him from his peers, on a quest to emerge as the best player of his generation.

Matthews catches fire during the short tournament, and he’ll battle for the tournament’s goal-scoring lead alongside fellow Maple Leafs star William Nylander, who will be a fixture of Sweden’s top line. Team USA appear to be the favourite, and its combination of scoring, elite defence and goaltending will ensure a victory for this group, that could be poised to become the Olympics favourite in 2026.