Mitch Marner skated alongside Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby this summer in preparation for the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs winger will get a chance to do it for real in February.
Marner was one of 17 players named Wednesday to round out Canada鈥檚 23-man roster for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament with the league poised to re-enter the international hockey sphere.
鈥淩eally looking forward to it,鈥� the winger said following Toronto鈥檚 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. 鈥淚t鈥檚 gonna be a very cool moment. You always want to wear your colours. It鈥檚 always a great honour when you get to represent your country.鈥�
Linking up with Marner as part of an attack that already featured McDavid, Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand and Brayden Point 鈥� five star forwards announced back in June 鈥� are Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers along with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Also making the team up front are Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The defence corps led by Cale Makar, who was also tabbed in June, will see Colorado Avalanche teammate Devon Toews suit up in red and white, and also include the Vegas duo of Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets, Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia鈥檚 Travis Sanheim.
The biggest question mark for Canadian general manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins and the rest of the country鈥檚 hockey brain trust since the selection process began has been in the crease 鈥� especially with stud netminders like Carey Price and Roberto Luongo a distant memory.
Canada doesn鈥檛 have the same goaltending pedigree as at past international events, but head coach Jon Cooper of Tampa will likely lean on Stanley Cup winners Jordan Binnington of the Blues and Adin Hill of the Golden Knights. Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens rounds out the puck-stopping trio.
鈥淲e are thrilled to unveil the group of players who have earned the opportunity to represent Canada,鈥� Sweeney said in a statement. 鈥淲e believe we have assembled a roster that features world-class talent, as well as success at the NHL and international levels.
鈥淲e are confident this group will give us the best chance to accomplish our goal on the international stage.鈥�
The 4 Nations tournament, which also includes the United States, Sweden and Finland, runs Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, and will serve as an appetizer for the NHL鈥檚 Olympic return in 2026.
It鈥檚 also the closest hockey has got to a best-on-best men鈥檚 tournament since the 2016 World Cup.
This showcase won鈥檛 technically meet that threshold with Russia 鈥� because of its ongoing war in Ukraine 鈥� and reigning world champions Czechia not in the mix. But there should still be plenty of interest with McDavid, Crosby, Leafs captain Auston Matthews of the U.S. and a host of other big names finally sharing the ice on the world stage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time since we鈥檝e seen NHL players in these kind of settings,鈥� said Matthews, who was named to his country鈥檚 roster in June.
鈥淕reat for the game, great for the fans.鈥�
The NHL, which went to five straight Olympics between 1998 and 2014, announced at last season鈥檚 all-star game that players would participate at the next two Games after the league skipped 2018 for business reasons and missed out in 2022 due to COVID-19.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty good precursor to the Olympics the following year,鈥� Matthews added. 鈥淚 think everybody鈥檚 very excited. 鈥�
The goal of the NHL and NHL Players鈥� Association is hold a World Cup with an expanded field in both 2028 and 2032 to get international events on a two-year cycle moving forward.
Canada opens the 4 Nations on Feb. 12 against Sweden at Montreal鈥檚 Bell Centre before facing the U.S. in the same building three nights later, with Marner and Matthews going toe-to-toe for the first time in their careers.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 got depth, everybody鈥檚 got great players, star power,鈥� Matthews said. 鈥淚n these kinds of settings, in my experience, it鈥檚 just the team that鈥檚 able to gel together the quickest usually that has the most success.鈥�
The tournament then moves to Boston, where the Canadians meet Finland on Feb 17.
The countries with the two best records after the round robin will battle in the Feb. 20 final at TD Garden.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gonna be crazy,鈥� Marner said. 鈥淎ll four teams are stacked. It鈥檚 gonna be a great tournament. I鈥檓 super excited and super honoured that I get the privilege.鈥�
Here are the full 4 Nations rosters:
CANADA
Forwards
Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers
Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes
Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning
Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers
Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights
Defensemen
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues
Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas Golden Knights
Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights
Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche
Goalies
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights
Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens
UNITED STATES
Forwards
Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Brock Nelson, New York Islanders
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers
Defensemen
Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild
Adam Fox, New York Rangers
Noah Hanifin, Vegas Golden Knights
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Goalies
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars
Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins
FINLAND
Forwards
Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes
Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Mikael Granlund, San Jose Sharks
Erik Haula, New Jersey Devils
Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars
Kaapo Kakko, New York Rangers
Patrik Laine, Montreal Canadiens
Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado Avalanche
Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers
Eetu Luostarinen, Florida Panthers
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks
Defensemen
Jani Hakanpaa, Toronto Maple Leafs
Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars
Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club
Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers
Rasmus Ristolainen, Philadelphia Flyers
Juuso Valimaki, Utah Hockey Club
Goalies
Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver Canucks
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
SWEDEN
Forwards
Viktor Arvidsson, Edmonton Oilers
Jesper Bratt, New Jersey Devils
Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks
Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota Wild
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
William Karlsson, Vegas Golden Knights
Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles Kings
Elias Lindholm, Boston Bruins
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
Gustav Nyqvist, Nashville Predators
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings
Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers
Defensemen
Rasmus Andersson, Calgary Flames
Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers
Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
Goalies
Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild
Jacob Markstrom, New Jersey Devils
Linus Ullmark, Ottawa Senators
