What Edmonton Oilers star McDavid said today at 4 Nations
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is entering uncharted territory as he will pull on the Team Canada jersey for the first time in a best-on-best tournament this week.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will bring together Canada’s best hockey players this week and will create combinations that hockey fans have been dreaming of. McDavid will share the ice with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mitch Marner.
It will be quite a spectacle for hockey fans to see all those players skate together on the same team for the first time. A lot of attention has been paid to McDavid teaming up with Crosby, which is something hockey fans have been pining for since the Oilers captain came into the league a decade ago.
McDavid chatted about his relationship with Crosby to reporters earlier today.
“My relationship with Sid is great. It’s something that’s definitely developed over the years,” McDavid said. “Definitely a guy I looked up; he’s a guy that’s been here before, understands these types of moments these types of situations and definitely a guy to lean on in times like this.”
"It's a great opportunity for our team to come together & make our country proud."
Connor McDavid speaks ahead of Canada's tournament opener tomorrow against his #Oilers teammates Mattias Ekholm & Viktor Arvidsson with Sweden.#4Nations | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/gYnrxWrvuY
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 11, 2025
For the first game of the tournament, it doesn’t appear that McDavid will be on a line with Crosby. Instead, Canadian head coach Jon Cooper had him skating on a line with Marner and Florida Panthers sniper Sam Reinhart.
McDavid talked about how difficult it was playing against Reinhart in the Stanley Cup Final last year and how much he respects him as a player.
“He’s a great player, plays in all situations and affects the game in a lot of different ways,” McDavid said. “We saw that firsthand last June.”
That isn’t the only Panthers player McDavid will team up with at the 4 Nations. He will also be on a team with Sam Bennett. Those two have a very long history of playing together, going back to their youth.
“[Bennett] and I have played together for a long time,” McDavid said. “Growing up, all those years, it’s kind of funny how it’s come full circle.
“Really cool, he’s definitely one of the guys I reached out to when the roster was named… excited to play with him again.”
Outside of McDavid’s Team Canada teammates, he will also have to play against some of his Oilers teammates. Both Mattias Ekholm and Viktor Arvidsson await the Oilers captain for tomorrow night’s game against Sweden.
McDavid told reporters that he is expecting both players, especially Ekholm, to play a hard game against him.
“[Ekholm] plays a hard game, I would expect him to play me hard,” McDavid said. “I am going to go at him too, it’s the nature of the business and we’re here on different sides.
“I hope he’s not doing anything too dirty to me, but he plays hard, and I try to play hard, too, and I would expect nothing different.”
It may not be the kind of best-on-best international tournament that fans are accustomed to, but the 4 Nations is shaping up to be quite an exciting event with plenty of storylines ready to unfold.