USA on the International Stage
* With an entirely new roster compared to its entry at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, a new crop of American players look to lead USA to its second NHL International Tournament win and fifth title in a major international competition.
* USA has reached the playoff round in five of eight NHL International Tournaments to date, including two trips to the final – finishing as runner-up at the 1991 Canada Cup and winning the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
* At the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the United Statesrallied from a 1-0 series deficit in the best-of-three final by earning two straight wins at the Molson Centre (now Bell Centre) in Montreal to upset Canada.
* The United States’ title in 1996 added to gold medals won at the 1980 and 1960 Olympics as well as the 1933 World Championship. The country claimed medals at two of five Olympics that included NHL players, securing silver in both 2010 and 2002.
* The United States has dominated at recent World Junior Championship tournaments, including two straight gold medals and four of the past nine titles (2025, 2024, 2021 & 2017). The country has medaled at eight of the past 10 such events (4 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze).
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Americans in the NHL
* 29% of NHL players are American, the highest rate in League history (tied w/ 2023-24, 2022-23 & 2018-19).
* This will be the 19th straight season in which Americans represent at least 20% of NHL players.
* The number of Americans in the NHL has more than doubled in the 32 years since the League began its 1990s expansion (298 in 2023-24 vs. 147 in 1991-92).
* Thirty-five states are represented among the birthplaces of U.S.-born players this season. Players born in 37 states played in the NHL in 2023-24, the highest total in history and more than double the amount represented in the first season of 1990s expansion (18 in 1991-92).
* Ten Americans lead a team in points this season (outright or tied), including Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski. Nine Americans pace a club in goals (outright or tied), including Dylan Larkin and Brady Tkachuk.
* Connor Hellebuyck (44 in 2017-18) is one of six Americans in NHL history to lead the League in wins (outright or tied) and is tracking to become the second to so multiple times (Frank Brimsek: 1939-40 & 1938-39).
* More than one in five players selected in Round 1 of the NHL Draft since 2016 are American (21%, 60 of 281 players), including No. 1 picks Jack Hughes (2019) and Auston Matthews (2016).
* From 2021-22 to 2023-24, the United States had three of the top 10 point-producers (Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews & J.T. Miller) – the most of any country.
* In 2023-24, Auston Matthews recorded the highest single-season goal total by any player since 1995-96. He is one of 12 players in League history to outright lead the NHL in goals at least three times and the only U.S.-born player all-time to tally 60+ goals in a season (2x; second American after Brett Hull: 3x).
* There have been multiple U.S.-born players among the top 10 in the League in points in 10 of the past 12 seasons, including 2015-16 when Patrick Kane became the first American to capture the Art Ross Trophy.
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Americans Winning NHL Awards and the Stanley Cup
* Americans combined for seven individual NHL Awards wins last season, the most in League history (ahead of 6 in 2010-11). Connor Hellebuyck (Vezina & William M. Jennings Trophy), Quinn Hughes (James Norris Memorial Trophy), Auston Matthews (Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy) and Jaccob Slavin (Lady Byng Memorial Trophy) accounted for five of the seven wins.
* Americans have won at least one individual NHL Award in each of the past nine campaigns (tied for the longest streak in League history; also 9 from 1988-89 to 1996-97) and in 36 of 41 seasons dating to 1982-83. That season marked the first in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) in which an American won an individual NHL Award – Rod Langway (Norris Trophy) achieved that feat. Langway happens to be the only player to captain USA at multiple NHL International Tournaments (1984 Canada Cup and 1987 Canada Cup).
* Each of the past 33 Stanley Cup-winning rosters have featured at least one American dating to 1991, by far the longest streak in NHL history (3x lengthier than the 11 straight from 1976 to 1986). Matthew Tkachuk (2024 FLA) and Jack Eichel (2023 VGK) helped extend the run within the last two years.
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#NHLStats for each player who will represent the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025. Each federation named six players in June, indicated by an asterisk below. All stats through Feb. 1, 2025.
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Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets
Hellebuyck backstopped the Jets to their historic start this season, which was on the heels of his Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy-winning campaign last year. He is the all-time franchise leader for wins, shutouts and games played by a goaltender, and ranks among the top 10 on the NHL’s all-time lists for each category among Americans. Hellebuyck is one of two Americans to win the Vezina Trophy multiple times under its current criteria (along with Tim Thomas) and became the fastest American goaltender in NHL history to reach 300 career wins. A four-time NHL All-Star, Hellebuyck has represented the United States at three World Championships (2017, 2015 & 2014) and was part of Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. In 2013-14, Hellebuyck was the recipient of the inaugural Mike Richter Award, named after the MVP of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and presented annually to the top NCAA Division I male goaltender.
Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars
Oettinger got his first taste of NHL action during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he made relief appearances in the Conference Finals and Final, one of two American goaltenders in League history to debut in the playoffs (also Mike Richter). Oettinger has been part of the roster for five medal-winning U.S. squads, at the Under-18 World Championship (gold in 2015, bronze in 2016), World Junior Championship (gold in 2017, bronze in 2018) and World Championship (bronze in 2021). An NHL All-Star for the first time last season, Oettinger has ascended all-time franchise lists for wins and shutouts since being selected in the 2017 NHL Draft when the Stars made him the ninth American goaltender in history to be picked in Round 1 (there are now 10 on that list).
Jeremy Swayman, G, Boston Bruins
Swayman signed an eight-year contract after a logging his first NHL All-Star Game appearance and 25-win season, less than two years removed from helping the Bruins notch an NHL-record 65 victories during the 2022-23 campaign when he was co-winner of the William M. Jennings Trophy. Swayman is one of two Alaska-born goaltenders in League history and was the starting goaltender for the United States at the 2022 World Championship. He also secured a bronze medal in a supporting role behind Joseph Woll and Jake Oettinger at the 2018 World Junior Championship. Swayman was the 12th goaltender selected in the 2017 NHL Draft and was the 2019-20 recipient of the Mike Richter Award as the top NCAA Division I male goaltender.
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Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild
Faber lived out the dream shared by many Minnesotans by captaining the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA and later making the NHL with his hometown Wild, who traded for him after his second of three collegiate seasons – not to mention earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team as a 19-year-old in 2022. As a college freshman in 2020-21, Faber secured both a Big Ten tournament championship and gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Championship (and donned the “C” at the next tournament in 2022). He was one of two American defensemen named as a finalist for the 2023-24 Calder Memorial Trophy (alongside Luke Hughes), a first in the 91-year history of the award. Faber finished as Calder runner-up after shattering franchise records for assists and points by a rookie defenseman.
Adam Fox, D, New York Rangers
After winning a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2017 World Junior Championship and bronze in 2018, Fox last represented his country at the 2019 World Championship (following his final NCAA season in which he was a Hobey Baker Award finalist). Fox has reached the 40-point mark in each of his six NHL seasons, including an active run of three straight 70-point campaigns entering 2024-25 – the only defenseman to achieve the latter feat in the 98-season history of the Rangers franchise. In 2020-21, Fox became the second defenseman in NHL history to win the Norris Trophy within his first two seasons, after Bobby Orr, and the first Rangers player to win it at any point since Brian Leetch in 1996-97. At age 23, Fox bested Leetch as the youngest American ever to claim the Norris Trophy. Fox is the highest-scoring New Yorker in Rangers history (at any position).
Noah Hanifin, D, Vegas Golden Knights
Hanifin became the seventh-youngest American defenseman in League history at the time of his debut (behind Craig Wolanin, Zach Bogosian, Mathieu Schneider, Al Iafrate, Kevin Hatcher & Phil Housley) when he skated his first game with Carolina, which chose him in the 2015 NHL Draft after one season each with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and in his hometown with the Boston College Eagles. Hanifin played in his first NHL All-Star Game in 2018 and was traded in a blockbuster deal to Calgary (which involved 4 Nations teammate Adam Fox), where he skated parts of six seasons before landing in Vegas in 2023-24 during a career-best 13-goal campaign. Hanifin’s international resume includes three trips to the World Championship (2019, 2017 & 2016), an appearance at the 2015 World Junior Championship and a gold medal alongside the likes of Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews at the 2014 Under-18 World Championship.
Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks
Hughes represented the U.S. at both the World Junior Championship and World Championship in back-to-back
years, securing two bronze medals in 2018 and a World Junior Championship silver in 2019. Within his first 400 NHL games with the Canucks, Hughes ascended the franchise lists for career scoring by a defenseman – he is now the club record holder for assists by blueliners and ranks second in points. He holds the top three entries in Canucks history for single season assists and points by a blueliner, building on career bests in each of the past three campaigns. In 2023-24, his first season as Canucks captain, Hughes led NHL defensemen in assists (75) and points (92) to become the first player in Vancouver’s 57-year history to win the Norris Trophy. He is the only American to captain the Canucks franchise.
Charlie McAvoy, D, Boston Bruins (Assistant Captain)
McAvoy medaled with the U.S. in five straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2017-18, including bronze and gold
medals at the World Junior Championship in 2016 and 2017, respectively. He capped that run with bronze at
the 2018 World Championship when he led defensemen in points (tied; 3-6—9 in 6 GP). Since entering the NHL in 2017-18, McAvoy leads Bruins defensemen in goals, assists and points – in the process cementing himself as the second-highest scoring American blueliner in the club’s 100-year history, behind Torey Krug. Over that same span, McAvoy ranks among the top 10 for plus-minus, goals, assists and points among all American defensemen.
Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina Hurricanes
Slavin is the reigning Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner, adding to his 2020-21 win to become the second defenseman (after Red Kelly) and second American (after Joe Mullen) to win the award multiple times. He has skated his entire 10-season career with the Hurricanes, highlighted by helping the team reach the playoffs in each of the past six years. Slavin ranks first on the all-time franchise list for assists and points among defensemen and is the NHL’s all-time scoring leader among Coloradans. Slavin last represented the United States at the 2014 World Junior Championship and hails from a hockey family that includes brothers Josiah and Jeremiah, as well as sister Jordan, who skated with the Americans at the 2010 World Women’s Under-18 Championship.
Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
Werenski was chosen by Columbus in the 2015 NHL Draft, has spent his entire nine-season career with the Blue Jackets and is the all-time franchise leader in goals, assists and points among defensemen. He has twice represented the United States at both the World Junior Championship (2016 & 2015) and World Championship (2024 and 2019). His 2015-16 season included a bronze medal at the World Juniors as captain (sharing the tournament lead for points among defensemen), a Big Ten tournament championship and ended with a Calder Cup in the AHL. Werenski was a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist in 2016-17 and is the last American blueliner with a 20-goal NHL season (2019-20).
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Matt Boldy, F, Minnesota Wild
Boldy shone during the Wild’s strong start to the 2024-25 season and is coming off a career-high 69-point campaign as well as an appearance with the United States at the 2024 World Championship where he led the tournament in scoring. Boldy skated two seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and his hometown Boston College Eagles, where he was named a Hobey Baker Award finalist as one of the top NCAA players before making is NHL debut with Minnesota in 2021-22. Boldy’s international resume also includes a stop at the 2022 World Championship and a gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Championship.
Kyle Connor, F, Winnipeg Jets
Connor led the Jets to their historic start this season, which included a 12-game point streak – the second longest season-opening point streak by an American in NHL history (behind Kevin Stevens: 13 GP in 1992-93) – during which he reached the 500-point milestone in his hometown against the Red Wings. Connor has skated his entire nine-season career for Winnipeg, which chose him in the 2015 NHL Draft after he won multiple gold medals at international tournaments with the United States as well as USHL Player of the Year and USA Hockey junior player of the year honors. Connor’s final season before making his League debut saw him skate in his home state with the Michigan Wolverines, where he led the NCAA in goals and points en route to being named the USA Hockey college player of the year, NCAA rookie of the year and a Hobey Baker Award finalist, and finished with an appearance at the 2016 World Championship. A two-time NHL All-Star, Connor is one of seven Americans in League history to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, alongside Jaccob Slavin (2x), Joe Mullen (2x), Johnny Gaudreau, Brett Hull, Doc Romnes and Billy Burch.
Jack Eichel, F, Vegas Golden Knights
In his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in 2023, Eichel tallied 26 points to become the fourth American in NHL history to be the outright leader in playoff scoring (also Brett Hull in 2000, Brian Leetch in 1994 & Cecil Dillon in 1933) and secured a championship in the process. Eichel arrived in Vegas after serving three seasons as captain of the Sabres, who chose him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft following a decorated campaign for his hometown Boston University Terriers where he led the NCAA in assists and points in 2014-15 en route to winning Hobey Baker Award and being named the USA Hockey college player of the year and top NCAA rookie. Following his rookie NHL season, Eichel starred for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey – part of an international resume that includes two medals at the Under-18 World Championship, bronze at the 2015 World Championship and wearing the “C” at the 2015 World Junior Championship.
Jake Guentzel, F, Tampa Bay Lightning
Guentzel made his NHL debut with the reigning-champion Penguins in 2016-17 and capped his first campaign by helping Pittsburgh win its second straight Stanley Cup, setting single-postseason NHL records for goals and points by an American rookie. Guentzel was picked by the Penguins in the 2013 NHL Draft after winning USHL Rookie of the Year honors while skating for the Sioux City Musketeers but played three seasons in his hometown at the University of Nebraska-Omaha before making the jump to the professional ranks. Now the highest-scoring Nebraskan in NHL history, Guentzel is a two-time 40-goal scorer and eight-time 20-goal performer who is set to represent the United States for the first time in his career.
Jack Hughes, F, New Jersey Devils
Hughes was chosen by the Devils with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and remains the League’s most-recent American to be selected first overall. He has since gone on to set the single-season franchise record for scoring and in 2022-23 guided New Jersey to its first playoff appearance in five years, while also becoming the fastest player in Devils/Rockies/Scouts history to reach 300 career points. Hughes is a two-time NHL All-Star, has the most goals in League history among Floridians and represented the United States numerous times during his two seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, including twice at the Under-18 World Championship where he set a tournament record with 32 career points (besting Alex Ovechkin with 31). He last represented the United States at the 2019 World Championship, nearly 30 years after his mother played in the women’s tournament (Ellen won silver with the U.S. in 1992). A highlight on the NHL schedule is the “Hughes Bowl,” where Jackand teammate Luke play their older brother, Quinn, whenever New Jersey faces Vancouver. They became the first American family with three siblings that were all selected in Round 1 of the NHL Draft.
Chris Kreider, F, New York Rangers
Kreider has spent his entire NHL career with the Rangers and is the franchise’s all-time goals leader among Americans while ranking second for points and third in assists. Kreider made his NHL debut in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and two seasons later helped New York reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in two decades. Now a two-time NHL All-Star, Kreider is the only American with a 50-goal season for the Rangers, achieved in 2021-22 when he became the second-oldest American in League history with a 50-goal season (behind Joe Mullen in 1988-89). A two-time NCAA champion with his hometown Boston College Eagles, Kreider has represented the United States at the 2019, 2018 (bronze), 2011 and 2010 World Championship and medaled at both his World Junior Championship appearances (gold in 2010, bronze in 2011).
Dylan Larkin, F, Detroit Red Wings
Larkin’s entire playing career has been based in his home state of Michigan, including stints with Belle Tire, USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, the University of Michigan Wolverines, the Grand Rapids Griffins and now the Red Wings, who named him the second American captain in franchise history (also Reed Larson). Larkin has logged three NHL All-Star Game appearances and is Detroit’s all-time leader in goals among Americans. Larkin played in five straight World Championship entries from 2015 to 2019 (claiming bronze in 2015 and 2018) as well as in the 2015 World Junior Championship, where he shared the tournament lead in goals. Larkin also skated with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and won gold with the U.S. at the 2014 Under-18 World Championship, alongside the likes of Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews.
Auston Matthews, F, Toronto Maple Leafs (Captain)
Matthews last wore the red, white and blue in 2016 when he scored seven goals in seven games to help secure a bronze medal at the World Junior Championship, then tallied nine points as an 18-year-old at the ensuing World Championship. His last taste of international play was with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. With the Maple Leafs he has set or tied franchise records for consecutive 30-goal seasons (8) and 40-goal seasons (6). One of nine players in NHL history with multiple 60-goal seasons, Matthews had 69 goals in 2023-24 – the most since 1995-96 (Mario Lemieux) – and is the top goal scorer in the NHL since 2016-17 when he entered the League. The first American captain in Maple Leafs history, Matthews also is one of four Americans in NHL history to win the Hart Memorial Trophy (also Billy Burch, Brett Hull & Patrick Kane) as well as the third to lead the League in goals (3x; also Hull, 3x, and Keith Tkachuk).
J.T. Miller, F, New York Rangers
Last season Miller became the first American in Canucks history with a 100-point campaign, skated in his first NHL All-Star Game and helped Vancouver reach the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Miller has won two gold medals with the United States, at least sharing the team lead in scoring each time – first at the 2011 Under-18 World Championship (when he tallied 12 points overall, including 0-2—2 in the third period of the gold medal game to rally the U.S. from a 3-1 deficit against Sweden, whose roster included Mika Zibanejad and Filip Forsberg) and then at the 2013 World Junior Championship (tied). The Ohio native also skated for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Brock Nelson, F, New York Islanders
Nelson has spent his entire 12-season career with the Islanders and is the second highest-scoring American in franchise history behind Pat LaFontaine. Nelson notched 30 goals in each of the past three seasons and logged his first career NHL All-Star Game appearance in 2023, which was after helping the Islanders reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals and 2020 Conference Finals. Nelson represented the United States at five World Championship entries (2024, 2017, 2016, 2015 & 2014) and at the 2011 World Junior Championship after he was chosen by the Islanders in the 2010 NHL Draft. Nelson hails from a decorated American hockey family that includes six combined appearances at the Olympics, with his grandfather Billy Christian and great-uncle Roger Christian capturing a gold medal for the United States in 1960 before Nelson’s uncle Dave Christian did so after playing in the “Miracle on Ice” 20 years later. Dave also competed in the 1991, 1984 and 1981 Canada Cup.
Brady Tkachuk, F, Ottawa Senators
Tkachuk and his brother, Matthew, hail from a decorated American hockey family which includes their father, Keith, whose 18-season NHL career included four Olympic appearances (2006, 2002 – silver, 1998 & 1992) as well as the 2004 and 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The second Tkachuk to captain an NHL team (Keith held the title with the original Jets/Coyotes), Brady is the only American to ever captain the Senators – who appointed him with “C” at age 22. The highest NHL Draft pick in his family, Brady is a two-time medalist on the international stage (gold as captain at the 2017 Under-18 World Championship and bronze at 2018 World Junior Championship) and last represented the United States at the 2024 World Championship where he had a team-leading seven goals in eight games. Brady will have his older brother as a teammate for just the second time in his hockey career – the only such instance was with the Atlantic Division in one of Brady’s four NHL All-Star Game appearances.
Matthew Tkachuk, F, Florida Panthers (Assistant Captain)
Tkachuk became the first member of his family to win the Stanley Cup when he shared the team lead with 22 points during the Panthers’ championship run last spring – less then two years after he joined Florida in the NHL’s second trade exchanging 100-point scorers. Tkachuk, whose tenure with the Panthers has been hallmarked by highlight-reel plays including overtime goals, late series-clinchers and game-saving stops, is contesting his ninth season and is a two-time NHL All-Star as well as a Hart Memorial Trophy finalist. He last represented the United States at the 2016 World Junior Championship when he helped his country secure a bronze medal, the same season in which he won both the OHL championship and Memorial Cup while skating with 4 Nations foe Mitch Marner (clinching the latter with an overtime winner). The strong bond and competitive instincts within the Tkachuk family is a focus of the Prime Video series FACEOFF: Inside the NHL.
Vincent Trocheck, F, New York Rangers
Trocheck is the highest-scoring Pennsylvanian in League history and his 12-season NHL career has included stints with the Rangers and Hurricanes as well as the Panthers, who chose him in the 2011 NHL Draft. Trocheck tallied a career-high 77 points last season and logged his second career NHL All-Star Game appearance (seven years after his first) before helping New York reach the 2024 Conference Finals. He tallied two points in a gold medal-clinching victory against Sweden at the 2013 Word Junior Championship and finished the 2012-13 season as the top scorer in the OHL, securing that league’s top honor as the most outstanding player. He also skated with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and for the U.S. at the 2014 World Championship.
