Two Finnish defensemen made the first six selection for the upcoming 2025 Four Nations Tournament in Montreal and Boston.
A pair of Dallas Stars defensemen were selected to represent Finland in the unveiling of the top six players for each country in the Four Nations Faceoff happening in February of 2025.
Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell were both chosen as the two represented defensemen for Team Finland in the official announcement Friday, making them the only two Stars to join the top six players of the four countries represented.
Heiskanen and Lindell join Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros and forwards Alexander Barkov of Florida, Colorado's Mikko Rantanen, and Sebastian Aho from Carolina.
While it is an unsurprising selection for Heiskanen, the addition of Lindell was perhaps somewhat surprising, given that he could arguably be only the third or fourth best defenseman for the Stars. But his play defensively, along with his stellar combination with Chris Tanev throughout the playoffs, cemented him as one of Finland's top six choices.
The Four Nations Faceoff will be the first international tournament featuring the best NHL players since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and will be a stepping stone back to a World Cup being played every four years in between the Olympics. The Olympics in 2026 will be the first expected to have NHL players participating since 2014. Many of the selected players, including Heiskanen and Lindell, will get a chance to represent their country outside of yearly IIHF competitions for the first time in their career.
Notably, Jason Robertson was not one of the six players selected to Team USA, but as the rosters flesh out in the upcoming months, it would be a shock to see him left off the final squad.
The tournament will be held in February of next year, with seven games held over an eight day period from Feb. 12-20. The games will be split between Montreal and Boston, two original six hockey markets. ESPN and TNT will split the TV rights in America.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Stars Goaltender May Have Out-priced Himself
Ryan Suter Bought Out by Stars
The Dallas Stars Best Active Homegrown Player: Brought to you by Upper Deck
Stars Trade Former First Round Pick to San Jose
- undefined