Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will represent the United States
Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will represent the United States
The Florida Panthers are going to be pretty well represented at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off.
Taking place from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, the best-on-best tournament will feature players from the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden.
On Wednesday afternoon, we learned that four Panthers players will be playing for Team Finland. They are Sasha Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola.
Additionally, Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling will be representing Sweden, a move that had was announced over the summer.
Early Wednesday evening we learned which players will be joining the American and Canadian squads.
The only Panthers player suiting up for the U.S. is Matthew Tkachuk, something we've known since the initial roster adds were announced back in June.
What we didn't know was which Panthers would be selected for Team Canada, as no Florida players were on their original six-player list.
The Panthers players tapped for the Canadian roster are Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett.
Reinhart has been one of the NHL's premiere goal scorers over the past couple seasons and currently leads the league with 18 goals through 26 games.
He's also proven to be an incredible asset as a defensive forward and shorthanded specialist.
Bennett does a little bit of everything in terms of offense and defense and can be a thorn in the side of any opponent, but he's also picked up the offense this season, logging 13 goals and 24 points through 25 games played.
Currently, Bennett is riding a four-game goal scoring streak, and he scored goals in five consecutive games earlier this season as well.
While Tkachuk is the only Panthers player joining Team USA, he's not the only member of the team joining the squad.
Florida General Manager Bill Zito is part of the Americans' front office and Panthers head equipment manager Teddy Richards will be on the US equipment staff.
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