Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Will Center Stacked 2nd Line for Team USA

In what is expected to be a star-studded tournament, the United States should be entering the 4-Nations Face-Off as the favourites due to their enormously talented group from top to bottom.

The one thing that was on a lot of people's minds was how the lines would shake out since there could have been so many combinations to try out. We finally got a taste as Team USA rolled out for their first practice session earlier today.

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Jack Eichel was tabbed as the number one center as he was skating alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Kyle Connor.

Some were surprised to see Auston Matthews not centering the top line. However, there was plenty of talent left over for Matthews, who was centering the second line with Lighting winger Jake Guentzel and Devils superstar Jack Hughes.

Brady Tkachuk, J.T. Miller, and Matthew Boldy comprised the third line and Brock Nelson and Vincent Trocheck were the regulars on the fourth line with Dylan Larkin and Chris Kreider rotating for the final spot.

Matthews' tournament status was in doubt for a brief period of time after the Toronto Maple Leafs captain was sidelined multiple times due to a nagging upper-body injury.

Many pundits implored him to back out and rest up. However, he's not only shown that he can stay healthy, but he has been producing at a great clip as well.

Heading into the tournament, Matthews has recorded 9 goals and 22 points in his last 16 games and has only been held without a point in 3 of those contests.

While he's not tabbed as the 1C, Matthews' linemates have done very well for themselves as well with Hughes recording 24 goals and 65 points this season and Guentzel coming in with 27 goals and 54 points.

Eichel has also done extremely well for himself this season with 69 points in just 55 games as he sits tied for 6th in points in the NHL alongside Connor, his new linemate, which probably explains his 1C appointment.

The Americans take the ice on Thursday night when they face-off against Finland before taking on the Canadians on Saturday and then finishing things off against Sweden on the following Monday. The championship game will be held on the 20th of February.