Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Makes Final Decision on the 4 Nations Face-Off

Of course, Auston Matthews started the year with a bit of a nagging injury that forced him to miss time with the Maple Leafs on two separate occasions.

The captain has since returned to the lineup and has been looking like his usual self.

However, there has been a ton of speculation about the 4 Nations Face-Off and whether or not it would be smart for Matthews to attend.

With the tournament in a few weeks, the captain has been forced to decide whether to play for Team USA.

Ahead of tonight's game against the Minnesota Wild, Bill Guerin decided to have a chat with Brad Treliving and Matthews. Guerin is the GM of Team USA and he was simply looking for some clarity.

According to TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun, Matthews gave Guerin exactly what he was looking for.

It has been confirmed that Matthews will participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

For now, it doesn't seem like the captain will have to be placed on any kind of minutes restriction. Instead, it is full steam ahead for the superstar.

While Leafs fans may be a little concerned about this, they actually shouldn't be. Instead, they should take this as a sign that Matthews is 100 percent healthy.

If he wasn't, there is a good chance that Treliving and even head coach Craig Berube would shut him down entirely.

No matter what, it is going to be fun watching him take on Mitch Marner on Team Canada, and William Nylander on Team Sweden.