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    Andre Leal
    Andre Leal
    Dec 4, 2024, 19:41

    The NHL unveiled the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters for Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland on Wednesday.

    The NHL unveiled the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters for Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland on Wednesday.

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    The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off rosters are being unveiled on Wednesday. 

    Team Finland and Sweden were the first to announce their full rosters on Wednesday, while Team Canada and Team USA's rosters followed in the evening.

    The tournament is scheduled for Feb. 12 to 20 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.

    This will be the first time NHL players will compete in an international best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

    In June, all four teams each selected their first six players to the roster. Now, teams have rounded up their 23-man rosters.

    Check out the rosters and analysis for all four teams below.

    Team Finland

    Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen, Joel Armia, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Kaapo Kakko, Artturi Lehkonen, Anton Lundell, Patrik Laine, Eetu Luostarinen and Teuvo Teravainen

    Defensemen: Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Jani Hakanpaa, Niko Mikkola, Olli Maatta, Rasmus Ristolainen, Juuso Valimaki

    Goaltenders: Juuse Saros, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Kevin Lankinen

    Finland includes four players from the 2024 Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. Furthermore, eight players on this Finland roster featured in the conference finals from last season’s playoffs.

    Patrik Laine was one of the forwards announced to Team Finland. He returned from a knee injury that he suffered in September on Tuesday, scoring for the Montreal Canadiens in front of the home fans.

    Laine is also one of nine players who represented Finland at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Others include Barkov, Teravainen, Granlund, Haula, Aho, Ristolainen, Lindell and Maatta. Rantanen, Saros and Heiskanen will be making their best-on-best debuts.

    Finland took the gold in the 2022 World Championship, defeating Team Canada in overtime in front of the home fans in Helsinki.

    Team Sweden

    Forwards: Adrian Kempe, William Karlsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Gustav Nyquist, Elias Pettersson, Lucas Raymond, Mika Zibanejad, Leo Carlsson, Elias Lindholm, Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg, Jesper Bratt, William Nylander

    Defensemen: Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Andersson, Mattias Ekholm, Victor Hedman, Gustav Forsling, Erik Karlsson, Jonas Brodin

    Goaltenders: Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark

    Team Sweden has a mix of youth, players in their prime and veterans who have played over 800 games in the NHL.

    Nineteen-year-old Leo Carlsson is the youngest player on this team. He was selected second overall in the 2023 NHL draft by the Anaheim Ducks and has 40 points in 75 career games.

    However, this isn’t the first time Carlsson will represent Sweden at the pro level. Last season, he played at the World Championship alongside Raymond, who will join him at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

    There are just a handful of players on this Sweden team that participated in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Veteran D-men Hedman and Karlsson were both on that team and were eliminated by Team Europe. They are the only players on this team with over 1,000 games played in the NHL.

    In net, Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy in 2023. However, Gustavsson and Markstrom have been on World Championship gold medal squads for Sweden.

    Team Canada

    Forwards: Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Travis Konecny, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, Sam Bennett, Seth Jarvis

    Defensemen: Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim

    Goaltenders: Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington, Sam Montembeault

    Championship pedigree oozes throughout Team Canada. They have six Hart Trophies and 20 Stanley Cup rings on this roster. Many fans are excited to witness these players play together, especially Crosby and McDavid as two of the best players in the past two generations.

    Crosby has made history on the international stage. He has two Olympic gold medals, including in 2010 when he scored the ‘Golden Goal’ for Canada to defeat the USA in the gold medal game. Crosby also has another three gold medals with Canada at other levels of competition.

    Two of the netminders – Binnington and Hill – won a Stanley Cup. Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens also knows a thing or two about playing in the Bell Centre. 

    Team USA

    Forwards: Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Guentzel, Kyle Connor, Matt Boldy, Chris Kreider, Dylan Larkin, Brock Nelson, J.T. Miller, and Vincent Trocheck

    Defensemen: Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin

    Goaltenders: Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman

    Unlike the other teams in this tournament, Team USA does not have one player on this roster who played in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

    There is a new generation of American players, and they will be put on display in this tournament.

    Going back to the last best-on-best tournament, players like Matthews, Eichel, Larkin, and more represented Team North America's U-24 squad.

    Team USA also has two sets of brothers representing their nation with Quinn and Jack Hughes and Matthew and Brady Tkachuk.

    All three goaltenders for the Americans have an elite status in this league. Hellebuyck is coming off a Vezina Trophy-winning season with the Winnipeg Jets. As for Oettinger, as of Wednesday, he is top 10 in the NHL for save percentage (.915) and goals-against average (2.38). Swayman of the Boston Bruins has the Jennings Trophy under his belt, too. 

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