Rosner On Dobson As the NHL holds its flagship 4 Nations Faceoff tournament, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] are one of the underrepresented franchises in the event. Only Brock Nelson was selected to participate for Team USA, with Canada, Sweden and Finland having no Islanders invited. Even with the lack of Islanders invited, most of New York's roster has some ties to the participating countries, as 21 of 25 players, including the injured party, are from one of the four nations. The question is when the puck drops on Saturday night for USA vs. Canada, which way is the Islanders room leaning? USA When it comes to the four countries in the tournament, 10 players including Nelson are from the United States. Starting at forward, the conversation starts Kyle Palmieri, born on Long Island in Smithtown. Anders Lee, a fellow native of Nelson's home state of Minnesota, continues the list. Among other names are relative newcomers to the franchise, including Kyle MacLean, Marc Gatcomb, and Hudson Fasching. The remaining five are all defense members, with Scott Mayfield having the longest tenure. Four members joined the Islanders in the last two seasons, starting with Mike Reilly after his arrival in November 2023. Scott Perunovich and Tony DeAngelo acquired this season, are the last American-born defensemen. Among the names, Palmieri and Lee each have represented the Stars and Stripes. Palmieri won a pair of gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, and Lee won a pair of bronzes in World Championship action. On defense, Reilly has won gold and bronze medals at the World Junior and World Championship, respectively. Perunovich also won bronze at 2018's World Juniors. Fasching and DeAngelo have also represented their country internationally. CANADA Matching the USA's output of Islanders players, Canada has 10 players featured on the roster, including some of the highest-profile names on the team. Six of them are forwards, headlined by the team's top duo of Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. The rest of New York's blood from Canada runs through the depths, starting with Anthony Duclair and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Two of the Islanders' longtime bottom-six stalwarts, Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin, round out the unit. The last four names all belong at the blue line, beginning with Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech. Noah Dobson is the next man on this list, playing as the team's lone representative of Prince Edward Island, ending with Dennis Cholowski. Among unique locations, Pulock is the team's only Manitoba native, and Duclair is the only man to play out of Quebec. Barzal and Cholowski are based in British Columbia, and the rest play out of Ontario. In international experience, Barzal has won a pair of silvers, one in World Juniors and one in World Championship play, while Cizikas did so in Juniors competition. The lone gold in international play belongs to Duclair, winning gold in 2015's World Juniors. Horvat, Dobson, Pageau, Pelech, and Pulock all skated in either event but did not medal in their appearances. The question is, which way do the Swedes and the Russians lean? SWEDEN The last of the team's representatives belong to Sweden, with four players representing The Three Crowns. At forward, Pierre Engvall and Simon Holmstrom are the team's main representatives. On defense, Adam Boqvist, the organization's newest member, is the Islanders' lone man on that front. The last player to represent Sweden is Marcus Högberg, the lone goaltender on any of the lists. On international ice, the group's lone medal belongs to Högberg, who won silver at the 2014 World Juniors. He also skated at 2022's World Championship, coming up with a sixth-place finish. Boqvist and Holmstrom each skated in World Juniors in 2019 and '21, respectively, but came up empty-handed. Holmstrom skates with Pageau and Cizikas, so Canada makes sense. Engvall skates with MacLean and Gatcomb, so maybe he leans towards the USA? We'll call it a tie. Hogberg seems like a guy who just wants everyone to have fun. The rest of the big club's roster has ties to Russia: Maxim Tsyplakov, Alexander Romanov, Ilya Sorokin, and Semyon Varlamov. Is the USA's Mircale On Ice when Russia was called the Soviet Union still an issue? If so, that's another four for Canada. While they may not have a say in this event, they may likely have their say in the coming years. None of the Islanders' current roster is Finnish. Although three members of the Bridgeport Islanders are from Finland--Eetu Liukas, Matias Rajaniemi, and Henrik Tikkanen. In addition to the NHL's return to the Winter Olympics in 2026, the World Cup of Hockey will return in 2028. Although rosters are still a ways away from being decided, perhaps more Islanders, in addition to Nelson, can find their way back onto the international stage in the coming years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwpuDfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
