4 NATIONS: McDavid settles in with Team Canada during Monday's first practice

MONTREAL, QC – Finally, best-on-best hockey is here, and Connor McDavid says it’s time to get moving.

Because there isn't a lot of it before things get started.

"I think for a couple of guys, they've been off for a little bit with a couple of days off, or some guys are just getting off a back to back," McDavid said. "So guys are coming in from different situations. I think we're just trying to get a little bit of a base down, see how it's going to feel and what it's like out there together.

"I thought it was a pretty good first day.”

For McDavid, Monday’s opening practice of the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team Canada was the amalgamation of a lot of hope and excitement to play best-on-best hockey in his career, along with plenty of preparation for both himself and his teammates to hit the ground running on Wednesday at 6:00 pm MT on Sportsnet against Team Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal.

McDavid was dressed the Red & White of Canada for their first practice alongside the nearly two dozen of the hand-selected skaters and goaltenders who’ll attempt to defend their nation's crown in best-on-best for the first time in 11 years since the 2014 Olympics.

Outside of the 2016 and 2018 World Championships in Europe, McDavid hasn't competed in true best-on-best hockey over his 10-year NHL career, with the only close exception coming during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey when he represented Team North America. To him, it’s been a long time coming to play against the game's top talent, and the feeling of pulling on the sweater on Monday to begin his 4 Nations Face-Off journey is one he’s going to savour.

“Yeah, it was really fun,” McDavid said following practice. “A really high pace and a lot of skill on the ice. It was really, really fun to be a part of.”

With only two practices before their first fixture versus Sweden – an opponent that will feature two of his Oilers teammates in Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm – McDavid said the main goal on Monday was for everyone to feel out their new linemates, D partners and surroundings, having been given such a short runway to develop chemistry before competing.

McDavid was on the top line in between Mitch Marner and Sam Reinhart, while the first-unit power play featured himself, Reinhart, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar.

The relief both he and his teammates felt hearing that Crosby would play in the tournament after suffering an injury with the Pittsburgh Penguins right before the break was high, knowing now they'll have their experienced captain alongside another proven competitor in Drew Doughty to lead on in the locker room for valuable leadership despite each of them have evolved into a leader in their own rights despite never playing at this high a level before in their careers.

"It matters to everybody in here," McDavid said. "Drew, the same thing. He could have easily turned it down coming off of his injury, and you saw what it means to him just in his comments how hard he was pushing to get back trying to make the team and everything like that. So obviously, it means a lot to Sid. It means a lot to everybody here. It's an exciting tournament. It's an exciting time to be a part of this group, and it's fun to be out there."

Despite the immense talent Canada has at its disposal, certainly up front at forward, getting it all to come together in a short span of time isn’t something that they can assume will automatically happen. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes, and the power play for Canada was exploiting every opportunity they have to develop further connections by working late after Monday’s practice.

“I think everybody just assumes it's gonna work. That's not necessarily the case,” McDavid said. “You know, it takes a lot of work. I think obviously you saw a little bit of the power play come together today. We were working at it after practice, so it takes a lot of work and it's gotta come together real fast. But we'll make it work.”

McDavid said he was excited to be paired up with both Marner and Reinhart on the top line to begin 4 Nations after saying last week in Edmonton that Marner was a player he’s never overlapped with over his career. Reinhart is someone McDavid became well-acquainted with during last season’s Stanley Cup Final, while both of them were teammates on Team Canada at the 2014 and 2015 World Juniors.

“Obviously two amazing players,” McDavid said. “Reinhart scores lots of goals. He has a great shot and is so smart. Mitch, obviously a playmaker, kind of plays up high in the zone, so definitely a good mix. It's fun to be out there with him for sure.”

Head Coach Jon Cooper said assembling Canada’s lines has been a process that started long before the team arrived for its first practice on Monday, mentioning that it’s been a collaborative process finding combinations that fit every player’s attributes.

Marner, McDavid and Reinhart's combined skillsets just felt right for the current Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss, who was an Assistant Coach for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the Head Coach for Canada on the World Championship team earlier that year.

“You got speed, you got brains, and you got guys that can shoot it in the net, Cooper said of McDavid’s line. “You hand me a line like that, I'll take my chances. The one thing is I remember back in the World Cup in 2016, I may be mistaken, but we had two and a half weeks or a three-week training camp. We were playing exhibition games in all sorts of different cities... but in this one, we had to jump right in.

"We did our homework and tried to do the best we could to see who could fit with whom, and those three guys specifically for us was a logical fit.”