For a while there, it looked like only Brady Tkachuk would represent the Senators at the new 4 Nations event, a replacement for the NHL All-Star Game.
For the next 12 days, the NHL is on hiatus from normal activities. For most Ottawa Senators players, that means a long holiday from the grind of the 82-game regular season and our soul-crushing winter.
However, the top NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States have arrived in Montreal, gearing up for a best-on-best exhibition tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off. It's meant to replace the All-Star Game, an event that's become tired and limp, where the outcome doesn't matter, and players barely break a sweat.
The hope is that fans and players get a little more excited about this new event, but thst remains to be seen.
For a while, it looked like Brady Tkachuk (USA) might be the only Ottawa Senators player featured in this event. The Sens captain was selected to play, as was goalie Linus Ullmark (Sweden). However, Ullmark had only played two games in the past month and a half due to a back injury, making him a question mark for the past few weeks.
That was cleared up this week when Ullmark returned to Ottawa's net. His Senators teammates quickly helped him get up to speed by allowing 84 shots in Ullmark's two starts in Tampa and Florida.
Over the weekend, the Senators' content for this event doubled. Defenders Jake Sanderson (USA) and Nik Matinpalo (Finland) were both called up as injury replacements. Sanderson, as mentioned in recent articles, was a perfect replacement for injured Vancouver Canucks star Quinn Hughes. Matinpalo will replace Philadelphia Flyers veteran Rasmus Ristolainen.
In 18 games with the Sens, Matinpalo has played calm, simple, low-event hockey as an injury replacement and will likely do the same for Finland. Sanderson will be far more impactful for Team USA. Since the teams were announced, Sanderson has been so good for the Senators, the American brain trust had probably begun second-guessing his omission from their roster.
Canada, the only team without Senators content, will host Ullmark and the Swedes to open the tournament on Wednesday night.