Is Jordan Binnington the favorite to be Canada’s No.1 goalie at 4 Nations Face-Off?

With the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters being announced on Wednesday, naturally, the debates have begun regarding who should be playing with who, and who should be the starting goaltenders for each country.

With Team Canada naming Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights, and Samuel Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens to the team, the conversation begins on who should start the first game of the tournament.

Binnington, a native of Richmond Hill, ON, will be representing Canada for the third time in his career. Most recently, he tallied a 6-2-0 record at the 2024 World Championships. So far this season, he’s enjoyed an up-and-down year, posting a 7-9-2 record, along with a 2.87 goals against average and .899 save percentage. Binnington won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, however, hasn’t played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2021-22 season.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli were joined by former NHL netminder Carter Hutton to discuss Canada’s crease, and if Binnington is the early lock to be their number-one goaltender.

Yaremchuk: When you look at Binnington and Hill, one of them will take the reigns as the starter, is there one of them stylistically that could work better with this Canadian team when you consider they picked a blueline with a lot of good defenders. They might not give up a lot.

Hutton: You know, so, Binnington is a guy who is a little more athletic. He’s going to move around and is going to chase the game. He’s a goalie that’s been able to live up to the big moment throughout his whole career. He’s been pushed down to the minors, fought his way back, winning the Stanley Cup, playing well in big games. But, for Adin Hill, he’s a guy that benefits from predictable hockey. He’s been behind a good backend in Vegas, and he’s going to have two of his defensemen there as well.

I think when the game becomes predictable, Adin Hill is going to be a guy that’s going to be successful. With all of that being said, I know these teams have built their teams for success, but you need a guy that’s going to make big saves at the right time. I think having these two guys as an option going into this, is going to be a good chance for Canada to hopefully have someone get hot and play well for them.

Seravalli: Ok, I want you to put a stake in the ground today – today, who is your starting goalie? Who is starting game one, and are you trying to go the distance from game one to four with the same guy, is that the ideal situation? Or, are you just bouncing around throughout the tournament with whoever’s hot?

Hutton: Well, Frank, I wish we were starting on Team USA because it would be a little bit easier. I think I’m going to go with Jordan Binnington. I think at this point, with his upside, his relationship with Doug Armstrong, and the fact that he is a guy that’s known to be a gamer.

I think with his consistency, he’s going to be the guy they go to. But, I do feel like we’ll see multiple guys in this, and I think for Canada this is the extent of having a guy get hot at the right time. I keep circling back to that because we talk about the depth of other teams, we talk about Team USA, but in a tournament like this you can throw that all out the window, in my opinion. It’s different if you’re building a team for an NHL season, yes, you’re going to need a guy throughout that run, but I think Jordan Binnington is going to be the guy that Canada starts for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

For more on Canada’s roster decisions, and a deep dive into Team USA, Sweden, and Finland, watch the full episode below.