Mid-season tourney sure to add intrigue

Best on best this isn't. But it's getting closer.

- DAMIEN COX

Not since 2016 has the NHL managed to either organize or participate in a true international event featuring the best players in the world. That's a ridiculously long time for a sport that once embraced the brilliance and idiosyncrasies of the international game.

It won't happen in 2024 or 2025, either. But what will happen is the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will replace the NHL all-star game this winter. And we can agree that anything, absolutely anything, is better than the vacuous all-star game, an anachronism that just won't die.

The 4 Nations Face-Off-featuring Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland will, in part, frame the 2024-25 season.

Training camps open this week after what had been a relatively quiet off-season until the senseless deaths of Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, the impact of which goes beyond Johnny Hockey's significance to the league, the fans and his team. But the game, as it has after many previous tragedies, goes on for better and for worse, always changing and evolving.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is actually a bit of a throwback, similar to Rendez-vous '87 at a very different time in NHL history: a way to integrate a high-level international event into the NHL regular season as seamlessly as possible.