COLORADO AVALANCHE

Avs get two more guys in the 4 Nations Face-Off, joining three stars

Dec 4, 2024, 12:31 PM | Updated: 4:52 pm

The Avs have another two players going to the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February.

On Wednesday afternoon and evening, the NHL revealed the full rosters for Team Finland, Team Sweden, Team USA and Team Canada. We already knew Mikko Rantanen would be representing Finland, and now Avalanche teammate Artturi Lehkonen will be joining him.

Rantanen was announced back in June, as well as Avalanche superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar playing for Team Canada. And on Wednesday night, defenseman Devon Toews joined the party.

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog would’ve assuredly been on the Team Sweden roster if he were healthy, but Landeskog is still recovering from multiple knee surgeries and hasn’t played in an NHL game since June of 2022.

For Lehkonen, this was largely expected, but also a cool honor. He missed the Avalanche’s first 12 games of this year after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, but has played in the last 14. He has five goals and five assists, good for 10 points in those contests.

The Avs acquired Lehkonen in the months leading up to their Stanley Cup run in 2022. He has 48 goals and 56 assists during his time with Colorado. Lehkonen also scored the series-winning goal in both the Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final that year.

Toews has played 303 career games with the Avs, tallying 42 goals and 154 assists. He was also a champion in 2022, contributing an excellent five goals and 10 assists during Colorado’s brilliant 16-4 playoff run.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will be played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12-20, 2025, a rare in-season tournament that will temporarily pause the NHL season.

And with MacKinnon, Makar, Rantanen and now Lehkonen and Toews all participating, you can bet Avalanche fans will be observing it closely.

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