NHL, NHLPA to host 4 Nations Face-Off international tournament in 2025
As reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli earlier on Friday, the NHL and NHLPA will host a four-team international tournament in 2025 known as the Four Nations Faceoff.
Canada, the United States of America, Sweden, and Finland will be the four participants, with each team being made up of 23-man rosters. The tournament will be played from Feb. 12-20, with no NHL All-Star Game taking place. Seravalli reported that Montreal and Boston are expected to host the event.
This is the first time NHLers have competed in best-on-best international hockey since Canada took home gold at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. The NHL has not participated in the past two Olympics, with teams last competing in Russia back in 2014.
The news comes after the NHL confirmed Olympic participation for 2026 and 2030.
Some key info about the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off:
-Games will be played from Feb. 12-20.
– NHL rule set
– 23-man rosters
– Players must be on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2.
– Each team will announce their first 6 players this summer, with final roster announcements coming later…
The four teams are all in the top six of the latest IIHF men’s world rankings, last set following the 2023 World Championship. Canada and Finland occupy the top two spots, with USA sitting fourth and Sweden in sixth. Russia, who hasn’t participated since the 2021 World Championship, remains in third place but is currently banned from international competition due to the war in Ukraine.
Germany currently occupies the fifth spot.
The four competing teams are among the most populated in the NHL. The Canadians, led by Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, made up 41.7 percent of opening night rosters, with the Americans sitting second at 29.1. Sweden came up third at 9.1 percent, with the Finns sitting fifth behind Russia at 5.1 percent.
Finland won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, but Canada has dominated the best-on-best competition over the past few decades. Canada won three of four golds from 2002-14, as well as the 2004 and 2016 World Cup of Hockey events. Sweden took home gold at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, while USA last took home top honors at the 1980 Olympics.