4 Nations Face-Off team preview: Finland

While Canada and the United States might have all the skill, and Sweden has tremendous defensive depth, Finland isn’t exceptional in just about any category.

But that’s kind of their thing. Regardless of event, the Finns continue to find ways to compete for championships despite never having the deepest or most talented roster around. Finland had just one goal in three games at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the last time best-on-best hockey existed internationally. They, along with the United States, were the two teams that were kept out of the playoff round – something that seemed to light a fire under the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

Since then, they won gold at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships, silver in 2016 and 2021, and, most notably, gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics (albeit with no NHLers). For the most part, they’ve never been a favorite to win any event – but their commitment to playing as a tight, sound unit makes them a threat wherever they go.

However, a four-team tournament like this can potentially expose some glaring flaws. So let’s get into it.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Teuvo Teräväinen – Aleksander Barkov – Patrik Laine
Lehkonen – Sebastian Aho – Mikko Rantanen
Kaapo Kakko – Roope Hintz – Mikael Granlund
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Joel Armia
Scratch: Erik Haula

Defensemen

Esa Lindell – Rasmus Ristolainen
Jusso Välimäki – Olli Määttä
Niko Mikkola – Urho Vaakanainen
Scratch: Henri Jokiharju

Goaltenders

Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

OFFENSE

Finding instant chemistry will be vital for Finland’s success – there’s no time to mess around and experiment. That’s why we’ll likely see Barkov and Teravainen reconnect, as we’ve seen at various international tournaments dating back to the U-16 level in 2009. And they complement each other, too – Barkov is the all-around 200-foot threat, while Teräväinen can bring the skill. And to make them even more dangerous, taking the responsibility away from Laine and having him focus on being the trigger man could be mighty effective, as well.

Speaking of chemistry, Rantanen should line up with his new Carolina Hurricanes linemate, Aho. They’ve been a bit quiet offensively since the Rantanen trade, but they’re still figuring things out on the fly. Still, they’ve got a decent connection already and should remain on a line together. They didn’t spend much time together, but putting Lehkonen as the other winger makes sense, given his connection to Rantanen dating back to their TPS U-16 days. Between all the international events and their time together in Colorado, it’s also a no-brainer.

Beyond that, there’s some solid depth. Kakko has been fantastic in Seattle, which is great timing for the Finns. Hintz is an excellent No. 3 center option, and while he and Granlund don’t play on a line together in Dallas, it’ll be interesting to see if they can spark something. Lundell and Luostarinen play together in Florida, so that could be a difficult matchup to contend against. And while he might have been a surprise addition at the time, Armia’s emergence as a significant bottom-six threat for Montreal – both as a penalty killer and a depth producer – will make him one to watch. He typically has played quite well for Finland internationally, too.

While the Finns definitely lack pure scoring depth, they should be a difficult team to play against with some built-in chemistry. A lot of the top players haven’t played together in quite some time, but it still helps – especially since a lot of these guys head back to Finland to train during the offseason, too. At the very least, we’re looking at a group committed to two-way play – and you’ll learn quite quickly how important that will be.

DEFENSE

Originally, the blueline was going to live and die with Miro Heiskanen – but an injury late last month left a significant hole there. And it didn’t help that Jani Hakanpaa – who has only played two NHL games this season due to a nagging knee injury – also won’t be joining the squad. Finland had the worst defensive depth by a mile, with just seven defenders playing at least 30 games this year, so they couldn’t afford to miss any bodies.

For now, we’re looking at a potential top pairing of Lindell and Ristolainen. Lindell has seen a nice uptick in ice time this year, going from 20:58 a year ago to 21:52. He’s definitely no Heiskanen, though, and won’t be able to cover the lost ground left behind there. But Lindell can kill penalties as well as anyone on this team, and that counts for something. Ristolainen, meanwhile, can run the power play and block shots on the penalty kill while landing big hits. He’s out day-to-day with an injury, though, so we’ll see if he’s ready to go.

So, then what? Mikkola should get plenty of ice time, something he has grown accustomed to over the past two years in Florida. He is a decent puck-mover, but he’s also physical, smart and isn’t afraid to lay his body on the line. He tends to play better when he’s busier, too. Hopefully, the same will be said for Utah Hockey Club blueliners Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki, both of whom should play plenty of time. Both have been decent at best this year in Utah, but they’re more than capable of some solid hockey.

A late addition to the team, don’t be surprised to see Vaakanainen skating alongside Valimaki. The pair have played together plenty of times internationally in the past, so they might be able to get some chemistry out of them (even if it has been a while). Vaakanainen is more of a stay-at-home defensive defenseman, but he’s also a solid penalty-killer. Jokiharju, meanwhile, has struggled mightily in Buffalo this year, but the Finnish federation has had no issue leaning on him plenty of times internationally in the past. We’ll see if this tournament can help kickstart his season back into shape before heading back to Buffalo.

When you look at some of the other names participating in this tourney – namely Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes and Victor Hedman – it’s easy to get discouraged about Finland’s blueline. On paper, it’s ugly – but at the very least, we should get some decent own-zone commitment out of their forward group.

GOALTENDING

The Finns used to churn out quality goaltenders better than just about any other team. But this year, it’s been a bit more difficult. All three of Finland’s puckstoppers – Saros, Lankinen and Luukkonen – are in the bottom 15 in goals saved above expected since Jan. 1. Luukkonen has racked up a bunch of wins, but the stats haven’t been too kind in his favor. Saros, meanwhile, has actually struggled the most of three this season, which is concerning given he’s the team’s No. 1. Granted, the Nashville Predators have been downright bad this season, so that’s not all on him.

Barring any crazy changes, it seems unlikely Saros won’t be Finland’s No. 1. He has done so much with the Preds over the past few years, which includes some late-season heroics to bring them to the postseason in 2023-24. At his best, Saros can be one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, and he’ll need to be, going up against the likes of Connor Hellebuyck and Linus Ullmark. With Finland’s blueline being the weakest of the four teams, Saros will need to be busy.

COACHING

He might not be a household name yet, but Antti Pennanen is extremely accomplished as a bench boss back in Finland. He was named top coach in the top Finnish pro league in 2019, winning his first Liiga championship that year. He also helped lead a Finnish team with no NHLers at the time to gold at the World Championship and has taken home silver and bronze medals at the World Juniors. Now, Pennanen is focused on coaching the men’s national team on a full-time basis, which included winning the Karjala Cup in November and taking silver at the Swiss Ice Hockey Games in December.

Pennanen is known for following a structured system – he always wants full buy-in from everyone. He’s not afraid to demote more skilled players in favor of someone willing to lay it all on the line. Pennanen has coached Lehkonen, Granlund, Kakko, Luostarinen and Luukkonen before, so there’s some familiarity there. But beyond that, he doesn’t have any special connections to players like Canada’s Jon Cooper and USA’s Mike Sullivan, so don’t expect much bias along the way.

BURNING QUESTION

Who will fill Heiskanen’s skates?

If there was one irreplaceable player on this team, it was Heiskanen. The Finns couldn’t afford to lose their No. 1 blueliner – someone who could eat minutes, carry the puck and take on anyone defensively. The Stars don’t have anyone with his level of skill, and they barely have the depth to feature a fully legal blueline to begin with. So this will be an opportunity for Lindell to take center stage in a way he wasn’t going to alongside his Stars teammate. He’ll fill the defensive role, but they’ll still miss out on an offensive generator. Luckily, it’s a short tournament, so you just need to get hot for a few days, but is anyone capable of stepping up? They will need to get a full committee effort every night.

PREDICTION

Comparatively, this is the weakest of the four participating teams. They lack the depth and star power the other three have, and a fully healthy team likely wouldn’t change that. But a damaged one? That’s going to be a harder pill to swallow. But no matter the tournament, the Finns never seem to lack the will to win. It’s like they crave being doubted. The Finns won gold at the 2019 World Championship off the heels of the outstanding play by Lankinen, who had spent most of the year in the ECHL at the time. They beat Russia and Canada en route to gold – two teams with legitimate NHL star power (especially Russia, who had Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, Mikhail Sergachev and Andrei Vasilevskiy, among others). That tournament showed what Finnish hockey is capable of – when you play with pure heart for your country, anything is possible. That being said, it will be an upward battle – they’re the group most likely to finish fourth.

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