Whether it's Bryan Trottier playing for Canada and the USA or Canadian-born Brett Hull starring for the States, not every NHL star plays for the country they were born in.
For a few weeks, dual-citizen NHL netminder Joey Daccord was the hot topic for Canada's men's national team.
As one of the NHL's most consistent goalies this season with the Seattle Kraken, Daccord could have been Canada's starting netminder in February's 4 Nations Face-Off despite being born, raised and trained in the United States. The Boston native also has Canadian citizenship since his father was born in Montreal. (Heck, his mother was born in Switzerland as well, so he holds Swiss citizenship as well.)
Daccord reportedly didn't have a Canadian passport, which held him off Canada's initial 4 Nations Face-Off roster. Whether that changes by the tournament or the 2026 Winter Olympics – or whether the Americans or Swiss grab him by then – remains to be seen.
What is certain is that there's already a significant history of dual-citizen NHL stars playing for a country different from the one where they were born.
In fact, some of them have played for Canada and the United States. In the case of Saskatchewan-born Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier, who played for Canada in one Canada Cup and Team USA in another, the decision to switch can get controversial. Trottier's wife, Nickie, even wrote a letter to The Hockey News in 1984 defending him for his decision after some criticism.
"Let me start by saying Bryan will always love Canada," Nickie Trottier wrote at the time. "And he is very grateful for all the help the Canadian hockey organizations have given him throughout his career.
"Being a North American Indian, he always felt he had dual citizenship. In becoming an American citizen, that just makes it official. He will always have his Canadian citizenship. His representing Team USA is his own way of paying back a country that he makes a living from."
Brett Hull, Mark Howe, Tony Esposito and current Vancouver Canucks D-man Tyler Myers are just some prominent dual-citizen NHL players in history. Avry Lewis-McDougall goes into more detail about each of them in this video feature:
(Don't see the video? Click here.)
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Who are some other dual-citizen NHL players you know? Comment below or share your thoughts directly to our forum.
Jonathan Tovell contributed to this story.
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