If 4 Nations Face-Off teams could pick one player from a non-competing country, who would they take?

The Sutherland Cup, in its present format, serves as the championship trophy for the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOJHL), a Junior B-level league with teams scattered throughout southern and western Ontario.

But between 1934 and 2007, it served the same purpose as the Canadian Hockey League’s (CHL) Memorial Cup, the preeminent trophy played between several Jr. B leagues throughout Ontario, with the number of teams competing for it ranging from three to as many as eight.

Through the years, different wrinkles were added to how teams could deploy their lineups, but one wrinkle that was used as late as the early ’80s seems unbelievable in hindsight: If a team won their league championship, they could choose one player from any of the teams in their league to join their group as they took on the other champions from within the province.

For example, Rodger MacKay was a goaltender for the London Diamonds (now the Nationals) in the 1979-80 Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League season, earning Goalie of the Year honors and leading the Diamonds to the league final against the Windsor Royals, where they were swept in four games. However, the Royals thought MacKay played so well, they added him to their roster for the Sutherland Cup tournament, where he led them all the way to the finals before losing to the Belleville Bobcats.

The practice of adding what some may call a “ringer” has been discontinued, but the idea is still intriguing, and with just a day before the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off, it got me wondering: what if each of the four countries participating could choose one player from a competing country? Would you add the best goalie available like the Royals did in 1980? Would you go for elite-level goal scoring in a tournament where you play four games at most? Or would a team add a world-class defender who could log in 25 minutes a game?

Here are four players I think would benefit each of the 4 Nations rosters the most:

Sweden: Leon Draisaitl, F (Germany)

Sweden’s top six forwards have lots of high-end skill, with players like the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad, Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander, New Jersey Devils’ Jesper Bratt and the Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson. But the group lacks a true MVP-caliber forward who could win every shift and be a force when it matters most. Enter Leon Draisaitl, the Edmonton Oilers’ forward who goes into the NHL’s international break as the Hart Trophy favorite with a league-leading 40 goals, 43 assists and 83 points in just 55 games.

Draisaitl, who has hit the 100-point mark five times in his first nine seasons and will likely do it again this year, happens to be one of the greatest playoff performers in the modern era, with 41 goals and 67 assists for 108 points in 74 Stanley Cup Playoff games. His 1.46 points-per-game (PPG) in the postseason ranks fourth in NHL history with (minimum 50 playoff games played), one spot below teammate Connor McDavid’s 1.58.

Every one of these teams could use Draisaitl, but a line where he centers Nylander and the Nashville Predators’ Filip Forsberg might be one of the best in the tournament. While it’s near unanimous that Draisaitl’s Edmonton teammate in McDavid is the best in the game, the German forward is never far behind in the conversation. Besides, can you really call it a “best on best” tournament when a recent Hart Trophy winner is taking a two-week vacation?

Finland: Nikita Kucherov, RW (Russia)

Everyone and their aunt is projecting Finland to be the fourth-place team in this tournament, largely due to their lack of elite talent and the number of injuries they’ve seen, including Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman Miro Heiskanen and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen.

Because of those injuries, I thought Finland could use a top defender to help bolster their group. But in a tournament with this format, the Finns need goals, goals, and more goals. That’s why Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, one of the game’s most productive players in the last 10 years, would be a perfect addition to a Finnish group that lacks any type of depth on the wing. A two-time Art Ross Trophy winner, Kucherov’s Hockey DB page shows numbers that look like he played in the NHL’s high-scoring ’80s, breaking the 110-point mark three times and finishing last season with 100 assists and 144 points.

Beyond the scoresheet, the Russian winger has earned a reputation as one of the game’s toughest competitors, never shying away from a scrum and ramping up his game when the weather gets warmer, highlighted by back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 with the Lightning. Kucherov is so good in the playoffs, that after winning in 2020, he missed the entire 2020-21 regular season and came back for round one in 2021, looking like he never missed a beat.

United States: Roman Josi, D (Switzerland)

A little off the board, but after last week’s news of Canucks’ defenseman Quinn Hughes having to miss the tournament, the U.S. could use an immediate upgrade on the blue line. That’s where Predators’ captain and 2020 Norris Trophy-winner Roman Josi comes in. The 34-year-old Swiss defender may not get the attention that Hughes and the Avalanche’s Cale Makar receive, but you would be a fool to create a “Top 5 NHL defensemen” list in the last decade and not have Josi on it.

Josi, a three-time Norris Trophy finalist, has been a rock for Nashville, averaging no less than 23:32 of ice time per game in 13 of his 14 seasons. Offensively, Josi has hit the 50-point mark eight times, and is on pace to do so a ninth time this season. While the Predators are struggling this season, Josi has been a key factor in getting them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 10 times in his career, including a trip to the Final in 2017. Take away the points, and Josi’s possession numbers are among the best in the game, always on the better side of 50 percent in terms of even-strength Corsi.

No one is doubting that the Rangers’ Adam Fox, Carolina Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin or Columbus Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski are top-pair defenders who will look good against the best in the world. But losing Hughes leaves a massive hole on their blue line, one that a player like Josi could fill seamlessly.

Canada: Igor Shesterkin, G (Russia)

Let’s be honest, there was never any doubt as to what position Canada needed the biggest improvement in. Sure, both St. Louis Blues’ goaltender Jordan Binnington and Vegas Golden Knight Adin Hill are Stanley Cup champions, the former being arguably the main reason why his team won, but neither have ever been mistaken for being one of the league’s best. Even the team’s No. 3 goalie in Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens only became a “true starting goalie” this season.

Instead of lingering on why Canada didn’t take Washington Capitals’ netminder Logan Thompson, let’s imagine this group with the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, who in the last four seasons has been either the best or one of the best in the game. Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy in 2021-22, posting a 36-13-4 record with a .935 save percentage (SV%) and 2.07 goals against average (GAA). Even this season, despite New York playing a terrible chunk of hockey, especially defensively, for a good chunk of the year, Shesterkin’s numbers remain at or above league average.

Shesterkin’s career .919 SV% only gets better in the playoffs, posting a .929, .931 and .926 between 2022 and 2024, respectively, and twice leading the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2018, he was on Russia’s Olympic hockey roster, and despite not playing, helped the team win a gold medal. He followed that at the 2018 World Championships, posting a 1.46 GAA and .942 SV% in four games.

With Canada not having a clear No. 1 goalie, adding a player like Shesterkin to a lineup like theirs would make them instant favorites and nearly unbeatable.

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