Crosby is reprising his role as Canada's captain for the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place next month in Montreal and Boston, just as he did in 2014 and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Auston Matthews is the U.S. captain for the first time in his career after only earlier this year taking over that job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The plan for Auston Matthews is to be, well, Auston Matthews. On Thursday, Matthews was named the captain of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the international best-on-best tournament that will pit the US, Canada, Sweden and Finland against each other in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20.

Auston Matthews has never been able to represent the United States in best-on-best international hockey competition. It’s a situation many of the game’s top stars find themselves in, but that’s about to change at the 4 Nations Face-Off next month.