Colton Parayko has spent his entire NHL career trying to shut down Sidney Crosby, so the St. Louis Blues defenseman is looking forward to being on the same team with the Pittsburgh Penguins captain for a change.
The two will be teammates for Canada at the 4-Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.
“You play against a lot of these guys throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to playing with guys that I’ve never had the chance to play with, guys like Sidney Crosby,” Parayko told NHL.com. “I grew up watching him play and watching him win gold medals with Canada and making Team Canada proud, so that’s pretty cool.
“So, getting a chance to play with him will be a lot of fun. Playing with all those defensemen will be fun as well. I’ve played with [Alex Pietrangelo] but I’ve never played with the other five, so it’s a good opportunity for us to get together and learn from each other and play with each other and enjoy it.”
Selected by St. Louis in the third round (No. 86) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Parayko is in his 10th season with the Blues (23-23-4), who host the Vancouver Canucks at Enterprise Center on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; Prime, FDSNMW). Parayko, a native of St. Albert, Alberta, won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019.
He will be joined on Canada’s blue line by Cale Makar and Devon Toews of the Colorado Avalanche, Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets, Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights and Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Canada opens the tournament against Sweden at Bell Centre on Feb. 12.
“There are a lot of good players on the team, obviously,” Parayko said. “There are a lot of good guys and a lot of different pieces that are going to add different dynamics and roles. I’m excited to get to it and get with those guys. There is obviously a lot of work to do still here with the NHL season leading up to that, and it’s a good opportunity for us players to keep building our game and keep getting better and then get to play in a big tournament.
“The roster looks really good and I’m excited to play.”
Parayko, 31, has represented Canada at the IIHF World Championship three times, taking home a silver medal in 2017. He also played in 2018 and 2024, when Canada finished fourth on each occasion.
“I’ve coached him, I know what he is, I’ve had him at World Championships, he’s a phenomenal guy,” Canada coach Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning) said. “He’s got a bomb for a shot, he’s big, he’s strong, he can break a puck out, he does a lot of things that puts him in the upper echelon of defensemen in this league. And he’s a high-character guy and a Stanley Cup champion. He checks a lot of boxes.”
Parakyo’s first major international tournament was the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He played for Team North America, which was made up of players 23 and under from the United States and Canada.
“That was probably the closest thing to best-on-best from my perspective,” Parayko said. “I’ve had a chance to play in three World Championships, but that is different, obviously; there are a lot of NHL players still playing in the playoffs. I would say the World Cup was probably the closest. I never played in a World Junior.”
Parakyo will be reunited with Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche, who also played for Team North America in 2016. He will be playing against U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Jets), forwards Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jack Eichel (Golden Knights), Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings, J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks and Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers, who also played for Team North America.
“I think any time you get to represent your country in any form it’s special, and I’m definitely not going to take it for granted,” Parayko said. “It’s a pretty humbling honor to get this opportunity.”
Heading into the 4-Nations Face-Off, Parayko is playing some of best hockey of his career and is on pace for his highest offensive season. He has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 50 games while averaging a team-high 24:21 of ice time per game.
Paryako had 35 points (four goals, 31 assists) in 82 games in 2016-17 and matched his best output in 2017-18 (six goals, 29 assists) in 82 games, and 2021-22 (six goals, 29 assists) in 80 games. He is being counted on heavily as the No. 1 defenseman in St. Louis by coach Jim Montgomery, who replaced Drew Bannister on Nov. 25.
“I think I’ve had one conversation with him since I’ve been here, and I grabbed him after about seven games and I said, ‘Hey, I haven’t talked to you much because don’t change a thing.’ That’s the only thing I said to him,” Montgomery said. “And I think he’s taking it upon himself to shoot more.
“He’s a player that you can tell by the way he’s playing that he wants to play playoff hockey, he wants to play meaningful hockey. He’s leading us that way.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report
