With the 4 Nations Face-Off set to get underway in Montreal on Wednesday night, all bets are off on the ice now that international bragging rights are up for grabs.

And with some of the top hockey players from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Finland looking to take home the title on Feb. 20 at TD Garden, that means multiple teammates across the NHL will have to withhold pleasantries when they meet on the frozen sheet at Bell Centre and TD Garden.

While Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman remain on the same squad with Team USA, they will have to compete against both Brad Marchand (Canada) and Elias Lindholm (Sweden) as part of the anticipated tournament. 

“It’s professional. We’re business as usual here,” Swayman told reporters Tuesday. “We’re wearing our jerseys and [Marchand’s] wearing his. Of course, if I see him, I’ll say hi and give him a hug. He’s my boy.

“That’s the love of the game and the business of it. We’ll hug and kiss after. We’re gonna make sure that when we’re playing, we’re respecting our respective countries the right way.”

While Swayman and his teammates have competed against Marchand for years during training-camp drills and practices at Warrior Ice Arena, the intensity — and antagonism — will be ratcheted up over the next two weeks. 

“You understand what he likes to do and what makes him so good. And that’s something that he’s perfected over his career and I’m excited to play against it,” Swayman said, per Jim McBride of The Boston Globe. “I’m excited to see how he is when he’s not on [my] team because as Bruins, we love him on our team, and he’s notorious for being hated. So, that’s something that I’m looking forward to.

“And at the same time he’s my captain, so I’m going to give it right back to him. And I know [McAvoy] is going to do the same. And all of our teammates. We’re on a team and so everyone else is the enemy. We’re going to make sure that we’re doing what we can to win games and compete.”

As teammates temporarily halt their friendly banner during their bouts on the ice, the 4 Nations Face-Off will also present several opportunities for longtime rivals to team up in hopes of winning a title for their country. 

McAvoy and the Bruins have had no shortage of foes during their several years of playoff runs, with the defenseman now sharing a dressing room with several players reviled in Boston, like Matthew Tkachuk and Auston Matthews. 

“We all have a very, very good friendship,” McAvoy said of Tkachuk and Matthews, per McBride. “The three of us from our time together in Ann Arbor and we all hit it off and I consider those guys to be two of my best friends in hockey and no matter how many times we’ll play against each other — and it’s a battle and there’s no love out there — you don’t miss a beat once the game’s over and once it’s done, it’s very quickly back to being friends again.”

Marchand also finds himself in a unique situation, as he will skate on a bottom-six grouping that also includes Panthers forward Sam Bennett — who sucker-punched him during Boston’s second-round playoff series against Florida in May 2024. 

“We’re each working toward the same goal and trying to accomplish the same thing. Those are things you don’t worry about when you’re here. Bygones are bygones,” Marchand said of teaming up with Bennett, per MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “That’s the great thing about hockey players. Whatever happens on the ice is not personal. We’re out there to do a job.”

While Marchand and his Bruins teammates will need to shift their focus once the tournament ends on Feb. 20, he doesn’t expect there to be any friendly exchanges doled against his teammates once the puck drops Wednesday night.  

“When you put that jersey on for Canada, there are no friends on the ice, and they will feel the exact same way. I can put any amount of money on it, that if Chucky gets a chance to run me, he’s going to run me,” Marchand said. “So that’s part of playing for your country. 

“You do whatever it takes, sacrifice whatever you have to, to win. We’ll be doing that, they’ll be doing that, and then that’s part of what makes [international] tournaments so hard to win and why the pace elevates so high, because guys are willing to leave it all out there.”