Matthews dealt with a nagging upper-body injury earlier this season, but after looking himself since early January is a full go for USA at the tournament.

Fifteen years after he scored the “Golden Goal” to deliver Canada an Olympic championship on home ice in Vancouver and 11 since he captained his country to another victory in Sochi, Sidney Crosby is

Among the NHL teammates who will be on opposite benches during the 4-Nations Face-Off include Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Matthews, who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be representing the USA while Nylander will be representing his native Sweden.

A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing -- it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world's attention.

Matthews was named captain of the Maple Leafs on Aug. 14, taking over for John Tavares, who passed along the role to star forward. Matthews is the 26th captain in the club's history and the first US-born player to wear the "C' for Toronto.

With Matthews getting ready to represent Team USA, Foco Bobbleheads just released a new solid base bobblehead of the Leafs' star.

Auston Matthews was named captain of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday. The 27-year-old center is in his first season as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be the first time Matthews will represent the United States since joining the NHL for the 2016-17 season.

Captaining Canada is nothing new for Sidney Crosby. He did it at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and led the team to titles in each of those tournaments.

“I don’t need to step in and be a rah-rah guy,” Matthews said Friday in a conference call after he was named captain the previous day, to be assisted by Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins. “A lot of these guys I’ve played with in junior and other tournaments. There’s good familiarity.

Also receiving the honour of being named to their respective leadership group is Maple Leafs star William Nylander, who will represent Team Sweden

The NHL and NHL Players Associate (NHLPA) have released their estimates for the salary cap for each of the next three seasons. The projected cap for the 2025-26 season is $95.5 million, 2026-27 to be $104 million,