A Pair of Maple Leafs Announced to the Four Nations Cup Top Six
With the off-season in full swing this week, the announcement for each countries first six players for the Four Nations Cup were made Friday afternoon and two Toronto Maple Leafs forwards have been selected to represent their homelands.
Toronto Maple Leafs sniping winger William Nylander was chosen as one of the six players to represent Team Sweden for the in-season tournament in 2025.
Nylander was selected alongside Tampa Bay Lightning Victor Hedman, Pittsburgh Penguin Erik Karlsson, Florida Panther Gustav Forsling, Nashville Predator Filip Forsberg and New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad.
Three time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews was an obvious selection for Team USA as he is not just the top current American born player, but he is the top scorer in the world right now. Matthews will be joined by Norris Trophy winning Quinn Hughes, as well as New York Ranger Adam Fox, Vegas Golden Knight Jack Eichel, Boston Bruin Charlie McAvoy and Florida Panther Matthew Tkachuk.
A Pair of Maple Leafs Announced to the Four Nations Cup Top Six
The tournament occurs during the season next February and will replaced the now boring All-Star Game. Many are hoping the NHL returns to the more traditional World Cup that includes more of the countries that will allow more of the superstars to participate.
Both Nylander and Matthews for the near future will be known as the Core 2 in Toronto as they are only two of their top forward group that are signed beyond this season. Both signed extensions this past year, with Matthews signing on for four more years and Nylander committing more long term to be here for eight more years.
Matthews is coming off his third Rocket Richard Trophy and set the post salary cap era single season scoring record with 69-goals this past year, while also being named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay, Frank J. Selke and Lady Byng Trophy's. Next up for Matthews is his likely captaincy announcement with the club within the next 13 months.
Nylander is coming off his second consecutive 40-goal season, joining just Matthews, Lanny McDonald, Rick Vaive, Darryl Sittler, and Mats Sundin to reach that mark multiple times in a Maple Leafs uniform. The Calgarian-Swede also flirted with becoming just the fourth player in team history to record 100-points in a season, however he registered just three assists in his final nine games to sit on 98 to end the year.
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Now with the first six players named to each participating nation, the question remains: will any other Toronto Maple Leafs join Matthews and Nylander in the tournament?