The first day of practices at the 4 Nations Face-Off showed just how stacked some forward lines will be when the action begins. There are some near-perfect combinations.

It's hard not to be stoked at the lines we're seeing at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland had their first practices in Montreal on Monday. While the tourney isn’t completely a best-on-best showdown of hockey countries, there's still a week's spotlight of some of hockey's top stars.

Seeing the coaches of those teams start to create line combinations is thrilling for hardcore fans and casual fans alike. And what Canada and the USA had for initial line combinations just shows how promising they can be when the games begin.

For instance, Canada coach Jon Cooper assembled a truly imposing set of lines Monday, with superstars Connor McDavid of Edmonton and Toronto’s Mitch Marner on a line with Florida’s Sam Reinhart. McDavid and Marner are tied for fourth in league scoring, with 71 points, and they produce assists like there's no tomorrow. Putting them with Reinhart, whose 31 goals are tied with the snubbed Mark Scheifele for the third-most in the NHL, is a recipe for domination.

A 1B for Canada has Penguins icon Sidney Crosby centering Vegas winger Mark Stone and Colorado’s superstar Nathan MacKinnon. Nova Scotia's Crosby and MacKinnon on a line together is a perfect match and should be a pleasure to watch.

How do you guard against lines like this? Opposing defenses will be twisted into knots trying to figure out that question.

The scariest part of Team Canada, though, is the power-play units.

The first power-play unit is as frightening as it gets, with MacKinnon, McDavid, Crosby, Reinhart and Cale Makar there to terrify opponents. Those five players are probably the best collection of pure talent on the ice at the same time since Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux played together at the 1987 Canada Cup.

That said, it’s also intriguing that Cooper chose to go with just one defenseman on the first power-play group. But on the second unit, he’s got Marner, Stone, Brayden Point and two blueliners – Josh Morrissey and Shea Theodore – rounding out the group. 

To say the least, Sweden, Finland, and America will be well-advised not to take any penalties because Canada’s power play will be all but automatic offense.

The United States also have dominant lines at the 4 Nations Face-Off. It would've been nice to see Matthew and Brady Tkachuk on the same line, but coach Mike Sullivan has other intriguing plans.

Brady Tkachuk practised on the third line with J.T. Miller and Matt Boldy, and Matthew Tkachuk is with center Jack Eichel and left winger Kyle Connor. That Matthew Tkachuk line, in particular, is an eye-catching blend of physicality, speed, elite playmaking and stellar shooting. Connor and Eichel are tied for the sixth-most points in the NHL, with 69.

But even then, another line is superstar captain Auston Matthews centering Jack Hughes and Jake Guentzel. That is about as skilled as it gets. Guentzel has the league's eighth-most goals, with 27. Matthews is a three-time 'Rocket' Richard winner, and Hughes is a playmaking machine who's 10th in league scoring and can also score. Trying to keep up with each of them will be quite a challenge.

The Swedes practised with pretty balanced forward line combinations. Lucas Raymond (21 goals, 59 points) and Jesper Bratt (41 assists, 65 points) make a great duo in the next two weeks. Adrian Kempe (25 goals, 46 points) and Filip Forsberg 21 goals, 53 points) lead their NHL clubs in points with a stellar balance of goals and assists. Centering those two should be a massive boost of confidence for Elias Pettersson.

Finland only had 11 skaters practising on Monday, but Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen to continue to develop their chemistry after the Hurricanes acquired the latter is a tempting possibility. The other option is putting Rantanen with Aleksander Barkov while Aho reunites with Teuvo Teravainen.

Of course, coaches could always put the lines in a blender shortly after action begins, so we shouldn’t get too attached to the lines we’re seeing in practices today. It’s all a high-stakes experiment, and strange things can lead to strange line combinations at any point in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

But you can clearly see why the NHL and NHL Players Association created this tournament. This is much more captivating than a mid-season All-Star Game – and as emotions ramp up in the games that will be played in Montreal and Boston between Feb. 12 and 20, the on-ice action should be must-see hockey.

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