Anticipation is starting to rise for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, the most intriguing international hockey tournament we’ve seen in almost a decade.
The action gets underway for Canada, USA, Sweden, and Finland on February 12 with games taking place in Montreal and Boston. Rosters will be announced next week, on December 4.
Here are roster predictions for all four teams, all of which are loaded with NHL talent (players already named to the team are marked with an asterisk).
Team Canada roster prediction
With all the players available for this group, Canada could realistically send two teams to this tournament and potentially both advance to the gold medal game. This team has a ton of eye-popping skill, but can also mix things up physically.
The one question mark is in goal.
Team Canada lines, defence pairs, goalies
Zach Hyman – Connor McDavid* – Mitch Marner
Brad Marchand* – Sidney Crosby* – Nathan MacKinnon*
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point* – Sam Reinhart
Sam Bennett – Mark Scheifele – Mark Stone
Devon Toews – Cale Makar*
Shea Theodore – Alex Pietrangelo
Josh Morrissey – MacKenzie Weegar
Jordan Binnington
Cam Talbot
Extras: Connor Bedard, Drew Doughty, Logan Thompson
Players we snubbed
- Carter Verhaeghe
- Steven Stamkos
- Alexis Lafreniere
- Mat Barzal
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Nick Suzuki
- Travis Konecny
- Bo Horvat
- John Tavares
- Nazem Kadri
- Jonathan Marchessault
- Evan Bouchard
- Noah Dobson
- Dougie Hamilton
- Morgan Rielly
- Kris Letang
- Owen Power
- Aaron Ekblad
- Colton Parayko
- Brandon Montour
- Adin Hill
- Stuart Skinner
- Sam Montembeault
Team USA roster prediction
Much like Team Canada, the Americans are loaded with talent. In fact, some are even considering them the favourites, in large part due to their major advantage in goal. There are no holes on this team.
Team USA lines, defence pairs, goalies
Jake Guentzel – Auston Matthews* – Matthew Tkachuk*
Kyle Connor – Jack Eichel* – Jack Hughes
Jason Robertson – Tage Thompson – J.T. Miller
Chris Kreider – Dylan Larkin – Brady Tkachuk
Quinn Hughes* – Charlie McAvoy*
Jaccob Slavin – Adam Fox*
Zach Werenski – Brock Faber
Connor Hellebuyck
Jake Oettinger
Extras: Matt Boldy, Neal Pionk, Jeremy Swayman
Players we snubbed
- Cole Caufield
- Brock Boeser
- Alex DeBrincat
- Clayton Keller
- Vincent Trocheck
- Alex Tuch
- Kyle Palmieri
- Conor Garland
- Anders Lee
- Brock Nelson
- John Carlson
- Brett Pesce
- Noah Hanifin
- Jake Sanderson
- Seth Jones
- Cam Fowler
- Torey Krug
- Ryan McDonagh
- Justin Faulk
- Thatcher Demko
- Dustin Wolf
- John Gibson
Team Sweden roster prediction
They may not be as deep as the Canadians or Americans, but it would not surprise anyone if Team Sweden claimed gold at this tournament. They have some unbelievable talent in every area, as has become the norm for them at international events.
Team Sweden lines, defence pairs, goalies
Filip Forsberg* – Mika Zibanejad* – William Nylander*
Jesper Bratt – Elias Pettersson – Adrian Kempe
William Karlsson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Lucas Raymond
William Eklund – Elias Lindholm – Gustav Nyquist
Victor Hedman* – Rasmus Dahlin
Gustav Forsling* – Rasmus Andersson
Mattias Ekholm – Erik Karlsson*
Jacob Markstrom
Filip Gustavsson
Extras: Leo Carlsson, Adam Larsson, Linus Ullmark
Players we snubbed
- Mikael Backlund
- Viktor Arvidsson
- Rickard Rakell
- Fabian Zetterlund
- Alexander Wennberg
- Hampus Lindholm
- Jonas Brodin
- Rasmus Sandin
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Marcus Pettersson
- Philip Broberg
Team Finland roster prediction
On paper, Finland is the weakest of the four teams in this tournament, though they are by no means a cakewalk. There is some extremely high-end skill in their lineup, and the currently injured Patrik Laine should be ready to go before things get underway.
Team Finland lines, defence pairs, goalies
Artturi Lehkonen – Aleksander Barkov* – Mikko Rantanen*
Teuvo Teravainen – Sebastian Aho* – Patrik Laine
Mattias Maccelli – Roope Hintz – Mikael Granlund
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Kaapo Kakko
Miro Heiskanen* – Rasmus Ristolainen
Esa Lindell* – Henri Jokiharju
Niko Mikkola – Olli Maatta
Juuse Saros*
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Extras: Erik Haula, Juuso Valimaki, Joonas Korpisalo
Players we snubbed
- Jesse Puljujarvi
- Eeli Tolvanen
- Jesper Kotkaniemi
- Joel Armia
- Joel Kiviranta
- Kevin Lankinen
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