Marner vs. Matthews: Which Maple Leafs’ star outperforms the other at 4 Nations Face-Off?

‘Good luck, good bye, see you at the end of it!’

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews may have travelled to the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament together, but there’s been radio silence ever since:

“we flew in together. we said bye, said good luck, we’ll see ya at the end of it.” pic.twitter.com/KyTrW7caAq

— resting mitch face (@34sixteen) February 12, 2025

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The two Maple Leafs’ superstars will hit the ice on Saturday night, as the Canada/USA showdown could be one of the most anticipated hockey games ever. It’s been almost 10 years since a best-on-best tournament, and through a couple of days of hockey, it hasn’t disappointed. Marner delivered in the clutch for Canada, and showcased to the hockey world he can show up in big moments. Meanwhile, Matthews finished USA’s opening 6-1 win of Finland with one assist, playing almost 20 minutes. 

Marner and Matthews have uncanny chemistry on the ice and have been riding shotgun to each other for almost a decade now, and Leaf fans will be at the edge of their seats to see which star comes out on top. 

On a recent episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed what to expect for the Leafs’ duo, and who they felt could come out on top:

Yaremchuk: We talked a lot about how Crosby gets to play with MacKinnon, Hughes and Matthews, and all these different combinations, but, what about those teammates who are now on opposite sides. I have a couple of questions for you that involve those situations, including Auston Matthews vs Mitch Marner.

Matthews playing with Jack Hughes, Marner will be a on a line with Connor McDavid and Sam Reinhart. If you had to pick between these two, who do you think finishes the tournament with more points?

Seravalli: I would go Marner. Look, I know Auston Matthews hasn’t been at his best this season, by his own standards, the injury has been a significant one. And, even when he’s played, he just really hasn’t passed the eye test. Be curious to see if he gets some of that swagger back in a tournament like this, that’s kind of been missing.

Marner has been the Leafs’ unquestioned MVP this year. And, not only that, but takes another step forward playing with players like this in this tournament. So, you’re talking about the elite one percenters, and I have a feeling with his poise and the way he can manage the puck is going to be critically important for Canada. So, I’m going to go Marner here in this situation.

So far through one game of action, the Leafs duo is at one point each. Marner may of had the bigger moment, but Matthews and the Americans won in regulation, so they are sitting pretty with three points.

Get your popcorn ready Leafs Nation, this is going to be a lot of fun.