United States Separates Tkachuk Brothers at First Practice

One of the most exciting headlines entering the 4 Nations Face-Off was the chance for Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk to play with his brother, Ottawa Sentors captain Brady Tkachuk. The United States roster gave the Tkachuk brothers the chance to play together in 5-on-5 hockey for the first time as professionals.

But in Team USA's first practice heading into the 4 Nations tournament, they opted to separate the Tkachuk brothers. Head Coach Mike Sullivan instead went with a spread out approach when making up his offensive line combinations. Matthew skated alongside Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor on the team's top line, while Brady joined forces with JT Miller and Matthew Boldy on the third line.

It's an understandable tactic from Sullivan, who has put together three unstoppable lines on paper. The second line is arguably the most intriguing, with Jake Guentzel, Auston Matthews, and Jack Hughes making up a dream line that the rest of the tournament should struggle to defend.

At the same time, this is a glorified exhibition tournament. Sure, it's best-on-best action of four of the best hockey nations in the world, but no one playing at the 4 Nations is treating this like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Because, it's not. Tactical decisions will pay off, but so will big swings.

And a big swing would be putting Brady and Matthew together with a center like Matthews or Eichel. The brothers play a completely different style, but what they share is a desire to get to the net and disrupt opposing defenders. Brady is an absolute pest, can shield the goalie, and cleans up rebounds. Matthew is similar, but also excels at puck possession. Combine that with how downright pesky the Tkachuk brothers are, and they could do some damage together at this event.

Sullivan could continue being cerebral and nit-picky, or he could give the world what we want. Do the right thing, coach. Pair the Tkachuk brothers together and create ultimate chaos at the 4 Nations Face-Off.