Which Oilers will join Connor McDavid in the best-on-best international showcase in February?
Which Oilers will join Connor McDavid in the best-on-best international showcase in February?
We're just a week away from the full roster announcements for February's 4 Nations Face-Off.
While the first six players for each team were named back in June, general managers Don Sweeney (CAN), Jere Lehtinen (FIN), Anders Lundberg (SWE), and Bill Guerin (USA) have spent the first two months of the NHL season trying to decide who will fill out the rest of their rosters in February.
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Oilers captain Connor McDavid has, of course, already been named to Team Canada, along with Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point, and Brad Marchand. The question is: How many other Oilers will join him in representing their countries?
Evan Bouchard, Canada
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After exploding for 82 points and finishing 5th in Norris voting last season, Bouchard seemed to have pencilled his name onto Team Canada's blueline. But two months into the new season, his slightly depressed production and noticeable defensive gaffes have opened up the door for other candidates.
The biggest problem for Bouchard is that Canada has no shortage of offensive defencemen who play the right side. Cale Makar will play on the first pairing and run the first powerplay unit. Lefty Shea Theodore typically plays the right side and has a longer track record than Bouchard, while his veteran teammate Alex Pietrangelo has the shutdown role locked down.
Bouchard also has to fight off fellow righties Dougie Hamilton, a veteran who fills exactly the same role as Bouchard, and Noah Dobson, who has less offensive potential but is more reliable in his own end and can kill penalties. Also lurking is Team Canada stalwart Drew Doughty, currently injured but surely still under consideration.
If I'm in charge, Bouchard is on the team all day: put him on a third pair with Josh Morrissey and you're laughing. But his propensity for high-profile mistakes can easily scare off a front office, and his position represents Canada's biggest strength. He'll be one of the most interesting names to watch next Wednesday.
Zach Hyman, Canada
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As we'll also see with our next candidate, the Oilers' mediocre start has put a real dent in some players' cases. Zach Hyman was widely considered a solid candidate over the summer, following his remarkable 70-goal year between the regular season and playoffs. If Canada brought Chris Kunitz to play beside Crosby in the 2014 Olympics, why not bring Hyman to play next to McDavid?
But Hyman hasn't been able to replicate his torrid 2023-24, with just 3 goals in 20 games this season. It's tough to argue a player playing at a less than 40-point pace belongs on Team Canada. While Hyman's play-driving, battle-winning, net-front presence could be hugely valuable on a team full of superstars, it can be replicated by players like Sam Reinhart, Travis Konecny, and Alexis Lafreniere who are having better seasons.
Hyman isn't playing any worse than last year: he's scored 6.3 fewer goals than expected according to MoneyPuck, and still driving play as well as ever. But he was always an edge case for Team Canada anyway, and his shooting slump could not have come at a worse time.
Stuart Skinner, Canada
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Now we have to talk about every Canadian hockey fan's worst fear: Goaltending. Canada's goaltending situation is, frankly, a disaster. Skinner joined Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault as the underwhelming candidates for Canada's crease entering the season, and at this point, none of them have save percentages over .900.
Just as Binnington and Hill can hang their hats on Stanley Cup championships, Skinner is just one year removed from backstopping his team to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. But he's simply been one of the worst goalies in the NHL this year, with a SV% of just .882.
I don't know who will be between the pipes for Canada in February. Things are so dire that they're seriously considering the American-born Joey Daccord. But with his dismal performance this season, the only way I can see Skinner making Team Canada is if someone in the front office really, really loves him.
Mattias Ekholm, Sweden
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Finally, we come to the Oilers' one non-Canadian candidate, the big Swede Mattias Ekholm. Sweden has an embarrassment of riches on the back end, with three defencemen among their first six in Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, and Gustav Forsling.
Complicating that, however, is that Karlsson has been awful to start the season. While he won't lose his spot on the team (honestly, he could still be captain), he's almost certainly headed for a reduced role. They'll certainly need to pair him with a capable defensive defenceman.
That's where Ekholm comes in. He's been nothing short of elite during his time in Edmonton, a steady force at both ends of the ice. Many of Sweden's defenders are mostly oriented one way: Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin, and the current model of Victor Hedman are all offensive defencemen, while Forsling and Jonas Brodin are shutdown savants.
That makes Ekholm very valuable, as someone who can either stay at home and let his partner go crazy on offence or be the puck-mover next to one of the league's premier defensive defencemen. While that would make for a left-handed heavy blueline -- Karlsson is the only righty among the six players I've mentioned, though Dahlin can play his off-hand-- it also would make for one of the best in the tournament.
The final rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off will be named on Wednesday, December 4th. The tournament begins on February 12th, 2025.
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