LAS VEGAS — Auston Matthews has waited more than eight years for this.
Donning a Team USA sweater in an international tournament as a professional.
Matthews is honoured to be one of the first six players named to represent his country at 2025’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL’s midseason teaser tournament ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
All four countries — Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden — unveiled their top six players Friday.
“Best-on-best is something that guys have really been wanting for a while, and I think it’s just great for the game,” Matthews said, inside Las Vegas’s Encore hotel.
“It’s gonna be extremely competitive. And I think there’s a lot of pride in playing for your country.”
Matthews is getting the band back together, reuniting with fellow USA Hockey National Team Development Program alumni such as Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, and Quinn Hughes. That crew grew close and have stayed in touch as their pro careers whisked them in different directions.
“All five guys who were selected today I know pretty well… It’s kind of just putting the ego aside and doing what’s best for the team, and then coming together as quickly as possible,” said Matthews, who suited up for Team North America at the September 2016 World Cup.
The 69-goal sniper believes there is an advantage to holding the 4 Nations in February as opposed to the fall.
“It’s gonna be good that it’s kinda halfway through the year, not necessarily trying to get the cobwebs out like at the start of the season, how the World Cup was,” Matthews said. “That’s definitely a positive.”
With this being Matthews’ first meeting with reporters since the Toronto Maple Leafs cleaned out their lockers 53 days ago, a couple club-related questions were lobbed his way.
Matthews politely declined comment on the firing of coach Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of new bench boss Craig Berube (“Maybe we can revisit that in September,” he said), but he did offer a few words on the rumours swirling the uncertain future of his wingman, Mitch Marner.
“All I’m gonna say is, we love Mitch, obviously,” Matthews said.
“There’s a lot of noise rolling and all that, but we love Mitchy. He’s a great person, great teammate. I can’t speak highly enough about him.”
Matthews also gave his respect to the Stanley Cup championship run of Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers, who eliminated his Leafs in 2023.
“Well deserved,” Matthews said. “It’s always tough to watch, but there’s always learning lessons and stuff that you can take away as well.”