10 potential 4 Nations Face-Off alternate selections if injuries arise

Credit: Dec 31, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) walks out to the rink before the Winter Classic against the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

We’re five weeks and one day from watching something resembling best-on-best men’s hockey for the first time since the 2014 Olympics or 2016 World Cup, depending on your definition of best on best. The puck will drop on the 4 Nations Face-Off Feb. 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET when Canada takes on Sweden to open the round-robin.

It’s been roughly a month since Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States announced their 23-man rosters for the tourney. Of course, it’s no guarantee the 92 players making the trip to Montreal and Boston will be the same 92 originally selected. Pursuit of the Stanley Cup remains every NHL player’s and team’s top priority, so we’ll likely see a few pre-tournament dropouts due to injuries and/or precautionary rest.

Who, then, will be the first replacement options getting the calls if and when help is needed? Here are 10 possible 4 Nations alternates to consider, presented alphabetically. Note that the list skews heavily toward Canadian and American players; they have so much more depth than Finland and Sweden that I wanted to reflect the ocean of options.

Connor Bedard, C, Canada

When I asked the Canada brass if they were treating the tournament as a 2026 Olympic audition, they stressed that they were more concerned about winning the 4 Nations in the moment and picked their team accordingly. That explained GM Don Sweeney’s exclusion of Bedard, who was struggling in his sophomore year. But midseason Chicago Blackhawks head coaching replacement Anders Sorensen, who has more of a skill-based bent than Luke Richardson did, has rubbed off positively on Bedard. The goal-scoring hasn’t really popped yet, but Bedard has 16 points in 14 games under Sorensen compared to 19 in 26 games before the switch. Hopefully he’s playing his way back onto Canada’s radar. I maintain my position that we haven’t yet seen what he can do with top-quality linemates. Couldn’t he apprentice as the 13^th forward?

Evan Bouchard, D, Canada

I listed Bouchard as Canada’s most egregious snub and stand by it. Only five defensemen league-wide – and three Canadian ones – have more points this season, and the idea that the right-shot superstar Cale Makar made Bouchard’s high-octane offensive game redundant doesn’t fly given Bouchard is great defensively. Yes, great. Among 44 NHL pairings with at least 300 minutes together at 5-on-5 this season, Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm have the second best expected goal share. You stick Bouchard with a shutdown partner and he can flourish.

John Carlson, D, USA

I almost chose Jake Sanderson instead; he’d make more sense if USA GM Bill Guerin wanted to test pairings out for the 2026 Milan Games. This season, however, Carlson has been a workhorse on the Eastern Conference’s top team, the Washington Capitals. He’s a Stanley Cup winner, a minute muncher, a dangerous shooter from the point, a shot blocker and a respected leader. To me, he’d be an extremely safe replacement pick if any American blueliner drops out.

Macklin Celebrini, C, Canada

The only problem with my tabling Bedard as a candidate is that he, uh, hasn’t been the NHL’s best teenage phenom this season. Celebrini has been a force of nature, tracking for close to a point per game and bringing a dynamic competitiveness reminiscent of a young Sidney Crosby. Buying into my own argument about auditioning young guys, should Celebrini be Canada’s first call? He has shown better two-way awareness early in his career than Bedard, meaning Celebrini could slot into a wider range of roles.

Wiliam Eklund, LW, Sweden

On a bottom-dwelling San Jose Sharks team, Eklund’s line actually has a positive 5-on-5 goal differential. Given his skill and well-rounded, intelligent game, he felt like a sensible choice to make Sweden’s initial roster, and my colleague Uffe Bodin listed Eklund among the bigger snubs. Surely he’d be one of the first picks as a replacement forward given he can do so many things well.

Zach Hyman, RW, Canada

Canada submitted its finalized roster Dec. 2. Through this season’s NHL games on Dec. 1, Hyman had a woeful three goals in 20 games. That apparently maxed out the Recency Bias Meter and made Canada forget he was fresh off a 54-goal season with the Edmonton Oilers. In his first game after the snub, he scored twice, and he’s buried 10 goals in 14 games since the Canada roster announcement overall, good for a 59-goal pace. If an injury arises, Mr. Sweeney: admit you whiffed badly and correct the mistake by adding Hyman to the team as a net-front maven on the power play.

Joonas Korpisalo, G, Finland

As my colleague Steven Ellis pointed out when breaking down Finland’s roster picks, Finland has the shallowest talent pool of the four teams competing and thus doesn’t have all that many NHL-grade replacements to choose from. But if they encounter any misfortune in net, Korpisalo is the clear next man up. He’s been slightly better than star crease partner Jeremy Swayman with the Boston Bruins this season. And as Korpisalo famously showed in the 2020 NHL playoff bubble bracket, he’s capable of electric hot streaks in which he carries a team over a short period of time.

Jason Robertson, LW, USA

If you told anyone a year ago that Robertson, one of the league’s rising superstars, wouldn’t make a best-on-best USA roster, you would’ve laughed, right? He’s since faded from superstar to merely a star – if that – in Dallas. Still, you could do worse than bet on his skill and size finding a use in the U.S. lineup. It’s also worth noting that, during the same period his offense regressed, he developed into a strong defensive forward last season. He hasn’t been Selke-Trophy good in his own end this season, but the point is that Robertson has more than one way to help a team in this tournament. He’s also heated up, by the way, with 22 points in his past 21 games after his arid start to 2024-25.

Logan Thompson, G, Canada

No Canadian goaltender has saved more goals above expected per 60 than Thompson this season. Only Adin Hill has won more games, and he’s already on the Canadian roster. Thompson may not have a Stanley Cup as a starter like alternate candidate Darcy Kuemper, but Thompson has been so good for the Capitals this season that he’s a potential Vezina Trophy finalist. It was fun seeing Sam Montembeault get recognized for his underrated game when Canada announced its team, but Thompson probably should’ve made it over him on merit. That said: this same spot could easily go to Mackenzie Blackwood, who is on an absolute heater since being traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

Tage Thompson, C, USA

Thompson is a weapon. I like the idea of an alternate being a player who brings something different that can spark a team, and few players have Thompson’s tools. He’s enormous and has a devastating one-timer. He’s also been one of the few positives in another frustrating Buffalo Sabres season, scoring at better than a 40-goal clip. He has the most upside of any potential replacement the Americans can deploy up front. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has indicated Thompson is playing through something, but it’s not like they have to save him for the playoffs. At this point, playing some competitive hockey could do him some good.

For a larger list of potential alternates, check out Frank Seravalli and my story on what the Canadian and American B teams would look like at the 4 Nations.

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