The announcement of the first six players for each of the participating countries for the Four Nations Face-Off coming next season got us all fired up again.

We're fired up for best-on-best international hockey, first and foremost, because it's been far too long since we've seen that happen. Nothing beats the kind of competition that's unleashed when all the best players duke it out with each other to see who's the best in the world.

We're also excited to know who some of the players involved are because it lets us revisit our own projected lineups for the event. We've broken down our thoughts on how Canada and the United States will show out a couple of times before, but now that we know six of the players? The puzzle gets a little easier to figure out.

But not much easier.

We'll take a shot at what the United States lineup will be for the tournament set to happen in 2025 in Montreal and Boston. With Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy already locked in, the rest should be gravy...right?

There will definitely be players you believe belong on here that won't be and we accept that you'll be really upset about that. We can make you feel better by reminding you we are not the general manager of Team USA.

Four lines, three defense pairs, three goalies. Let's rock.

First-Forward Line

Jason Robertson--Auston Matthews--Jack Hughes

Listen, we know Jack Hughes is a center, but to make a lineup that can include all of the best talent and still be able to beat Canada, Sweden and Finland, we're going to have to make some adjustments.

Deal with it.

With the way all three of these guys can score and how strong Robertson and Matthews are defensively on top of how quick and agile Hughes is, this is a trio that can wreak havoc on everyone.

All three can fill the net at will and that's going to be necessary to win gold at the Four Nations Face-Off. Having Robertson and Matthews at their regular positions with Hughes getting to improvise from the wing, we think these guys would be able to figure out how best to play out there. Being able to trot out three of the best forwards in the NHL on the top line is a luxury to have.

Second-Forward Line

Matthew Tkachuk--Jack Eichel--Clayton Keller

Do you know how there are treats out there that are salty and sweet? This is kind of the idea for this line.

Tkachuk is the salty part of this group with his aggressive and physical play and presence around the net to drive opponents mad. He's also got the skill to score goals and set up teammates in bunches.

Eichel's game is a healthy mix of aggressiveness in his skating and playmaking. He's also able to wire shots from any angle past a goaltender. His ability to distribute the puck is underappreciated and can shine with Tkachuk playing the heavy and Clayton Keller on the other side with his knack for producing points.

Keller has flown under the radar his entire NHL career thanks to playing in Arizona, but he's extremely good and his offensive numbers jump off the page, especially when you consider he did it on an underachieving Coyotes team.

This is a trio that can get things done both by scoring and totally upsetting opponents.

Third-Forward Line

Jake Guentzel--J.T. Miller--Brock Boeser

We know there won't be too many Canucks fans pulling for the United States at the Four Nations Face-Off, but they'll have to watch them a lot because plenty of their stars will play for the U.S.

In this case, a line of Guentzel, Miller and Boeser could potentially turn into a trio of Canucks playing together if Guentzel ends up in Vancouver

Miller has been one of the top scorers and defensive forwards in the league the past few years and having him run the pivot with a goal-scoring star like Boeser and an all-around super winger in Guentzel means this third line is only a third line in name only.

While Miller and Boeser know each other very well from playing together in Vancouver, Guentzel would be the outsider latching onto them and helping them go. Of course, Guentzel is set to become a free agent on July 1 and Vancouver is a team that could be in the mix to sign him.

We're getting ahead of ourselves a bit here by 'shipping these three together for the Canucks, but whether Guentzel signs in Vancouver or not, putting these three together for this tournament makes a whole lot of sense. They're smart players, they're offensively gifted and they can attack in a bunch of different ways.

If the Canucks can't put them together for themselves, let's put them together for America.

Fourth-Forward Line

Brady Tkachuk--Vincent Trocheck--Chris Kreider

Just like our third line, this fourth line is only a fourth line because of the overwhelming amount of talent. But like traditional fourth lines in the NHL, our fourth line for this tournament needs some physicality and some snarl to go with being able to score as well.

Having Brady Tkachuk and Chris Kreider on the wings to play their physical brand of hockey that makes life miserable for opponents around their own goal and having Trocheck center them to keep the wheels going makes for a good time.

Tkachuk and Kreider are known for playing ferocious hockey where they can use their size and strength for good to score goals and tip pucks or for more nefarious purposes to deliver crunching hits that would assuredly make opponents blow their collective tops. This is the kind of action and talent this team needs and putting them together here would go a long way to helping the U.S. win games and make opposing teams really mad about it.

Trocheck in the middle provides a center who can score, yes, but also play the kind of all-around game you want to have when opposing teams are looking for a break in the line matchups. Dealing with Trocheck along with Tkachuk and Kreider will give opposing coaches headaches trying to steer stars away from them.

First-Defense Pairing

Quinn Hughes--Adam Fox

The beauty of having Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox being two of the first six players named to Team USA is it automatically makes it easy for us to put them together as a defense pairing. With Hughes being a left-handed shot and Fox a right-handed shot, it's a natural fit for the two of them to play together.

Hughes' ability to control the puck and rush it all over the ice to generate scoring opportunities is beyond impressive. The way he was able to generate points for Vancouver it led him to win the Norris Trophy this season. He's quick, he's shifty and he's immensely talented at generating chances with shots or passes. Having him lead the way on the blue line should help Team USA score a bunch of goals.

With Fox, he offers a similar skill set and abilities as well as having won a Norris Trophy. It's a wealth of riches for the U.S. to have these two and to be able to put them together. Like Hughes with the Canucks, Fox ran the Rangers power play beautifully.

Is putting Hughes and Fox together too greedy or too similar to have them work well together? Maybe! But it's not like there's a lack of stars on this team to make it work. Letting these two roll out together means opponents are in big trouble.

Second-Defense Pairing

Zach Werenski--Charlie McAvoy

Unlike the forward groups where we jammed centers on the wing, defense is where we have to be more mindful of handedness. Yes, this is a fantasy exercise, but we want to keep it a little realistic when it comes to putting left-shot defensemen and right-shot defensemen on their strong sides.

McAvoy being named as one of the first six players as a right-handed shot along with Adam Fox means not putting them together, but since we put Fox and Quinn Hughes as a pair, we needed to find another lefty to go with McAvoy and complement his all-around outstanding game. After all, McAvoy does it all and does it so well from rushing the puck up the ice to generating scoring opportunities to defending well in his own end that finding someone to play well off him should be easy.

Maybe it's controversial, but Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is just the guy to do it. He may not be the first guy that comes to mind for fans, but it's OK, it's been a while since we've had to put a full American squad together for a tournament.

Werenski is an outstanding playmaker and puck-mover, and he showed it well last season when he had 57 points with 11 goals, third best among American defensemen. That kind of output on a Blue Jackets team that struggled so badly is impressive. Pairing him with McAvoy and surrounding him with all of the star talent on the American roster will help fans appreciate what an outstanding player they have in Columbus.

Third-Defense Pairing

Noah Hanifin--John Carlson

It's nice for the United States to have a bevy of experienced to draw from and it's even more fun when you can put them together. Vegas' Noah Hanifin and Washington's John Carlson teaming up together is a great example of this considering this is the third pairing.

Hanifin has been a forever steady defenseman in his time with Calgary and now that he's with the Golden Knights, the attention he'll get playing on the Strip will grow, as will the appreciation for how well he does everything on the back end. Defending, puck-carrying, creating offense...you name it and he can do it.

Putting Hanifin with Carlson gives him the chance to lock it down defensively while Carlson's all-around outstanding ability to carry the puck and generate scoring chances from the blue line throughout his career make him stand out.

Considering how good Minnesota's Brock Faber was this season, his rookie season, it should give him a golden road to being part of the American team. But with a veteran like Carlson who continues to produce at such a high level and the amount of success he's had in international play earlier in his career, he gets the nod. But there's no doubt that Faber will be part of this team.

Goaltending

Connor Hellebuyck, Thatcher Demko, Jeremy Swayman

The biggest problem with American goaltending is figuring out which of the superstar goalies to play each game. With Connor Hellebuyck as part of the team, that answer is a little easier to make considering he just won the Vezina Trophy for the second time in his career.

With Hellebuyck leading the way, the United States has arguably the best goalie in the Four Nations Face-Off. What's extra fun is you could argue they have the second and third-best goalies.

Demko's play in Vancouver as well as Swayman's in Boston were beyond stellar and has been for a few seasons now. On any other team, they'd be the likely candidate to be the No. 1 goalie and run the table in a tournament. In this case, if Hellebuyck struggles, they've literally got a couple of aces up their sleeve to keep things in check.

If this were a fantasy draft, one team having all three of these guys as goalies would make you wonder if they were trying to force the rest of the league to make blockbuster trades with them. Instead, this is just the U.S. being able to not-so-humorablebrag about the depth they have. It's a very nice problem to have. The fact that we're leaving Dallas's Jake Oettinger out of the mix here hammers that home.