Two Oilers Get Important Roles At 4 Nations Face-Off

Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm will both wear "A"s for their respective countries at the upcoming tournament.

The captains have been announced for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

All four teams named their leadership groups today, starting with Finland this morning and ending with Canada at noon. Two of the three Oilers at the event will wear an "A" for their country: Canada's Connor McDavid and Sweden's Mattias Ekholm.

Sidney Crosby will of course captain Canada once again, while McDavid will be joined by Cale Makar as assistant captain. McDavid quashed any rumours that he might be captain in Crosby's place back in October. 

"It should be Sid for sure," he told reporters when asked about the captaincy. "It's such a no-brainer."

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While McDavid is an obvious choice as assistant captain, Makar is slightly more surprising. It would have been fair to expect another active NHL captain like Brad Marchand or Mark Stone, or else Crosby's close friend and Makar's teammate Nathan MacKinnon.

As for Mattias Ekholm, he'll serve as an assistant captain for Team Sweden alongside Erik Karlsson and William Nylander, while Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman will wear the "C" for the Tre Kronor.

It's a well-earned honour, according to Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. 

"He doesn't wear a letter on our team, but he's definitely one of our leaders," Knoblauch said of Ekholm. "A lot of guys have a lot of respect for him for the person that he is, the work that he puts in, and obviously what he does on the ice."

"It's obviously a huge honour," Ekholm himself said. "Victor's a great leader, kind of a no-brainer for me that he was going to be the captain. I'm gonna do everything possible, everything I can do to make this team as good as possible and hopefully we can make some noise."

Ekholm won't be the only Oiler playing for Team Sweden, as he'll be joined by forward Viktor Arvidsson. 

The 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off on February 12th with a matchup between McDavid's Team Canada and Ekholm's Team Sweden.

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