Predicting the initial six players named to the 4 Nations Face-Off teams

Credit: Mar 10, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) skates with the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) defends during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024-25 hockey calendar will include the NHL dipping its toes back into international waters as a warmup for 2026 Olympic participation. The 4 Nations Face-Off will take place Feb. 12-20, 2025, with Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland battling in a round-robin format before the top two teams meet in a one-game final.

On June 28, the start date for the 2024 NHL Draft, the NHL will unveil the first six players for each nation competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Earlier this season, Steven Ellis and I, along with some guest prognosticators, predicted full rosters for the tournament. Click the hyperlinks to see our picks for Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland.

But naming the first six is a different exercise. It’s not about simply predicting the best six players for each team. The NHL has decided to tease with the partial roster reveal for a reason. There’s a clear PR element in play when promoting the event so far in advance. So I’ve predicted my “first six” for each team with that philosophy in mind. Rather than “Who are our six best players?” It’s “Who are our six locks that work best for the announcement?”

CANADA

Sidney Crosby
Nathan MacKinnon
Cale Makar
Connor McDavid
Brayden Point
Steven Stamkos

Picking McDavid, MacKinnon and Makar was easy. You could make a case for them as the current three best players on the planet. They are also three of the game’s biggest global stars. They’re automatics. So is Crosby. He’s a shoo-in to wear the captain’s C, and naming him will finally allow us to visualize him playing with (a) fellow generational talent McDavid and (b) great friend MacKinnon. Point is the ultimate safe pick; he’s a versatile center who makes this team in almost any scenario. Stamkos is more of a PR pick here; better players than the version of him that’ll be 35 next February will end up on this team, from Zach Hyman to Mitch Marner, but Stamkos is one of the game’s senior ambassadors. Since I still do fully expect him on the team, he’s a logical pick for the initial reveal. Note that I didn’t include a goaltender. Given how shaky Canada’s crease scenario is, it would make little sense to name a netminder this early and create expectations that he would be the No. 1. Adin Hill? Stuart Skinner? Jordan Binnington? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.

USA

Connor Hellebuyck
Jack Hughes
Quinn Hughes
Auston Matthews
Brady Tkachuk
Matthew Tkachuk

There’s fun marketability having two of the three NHL Hughes brothers and both Tkachuk brothers be part of the initial announcement, and they all happen to be elite players anyway. Matthews is the biggest lock as the team’s marquee superstar. I wavered slightly on the Hellebuyck pick, because he has stiff competition in Jeremy Swayman, Thatcher Demko and Jake Oettinger. I had Adam Fox originally but switched the pick to Hellebuyck, as it would feel almost disrespectful if the U.S. didn’t name him one day after he receives the Vezina Trophy on June 27 at the NHL Awards.

SWEDEN

Filip Forsberg
Victor Hedman
Erik Karlsson
William Nylander
Elias Pettersson
Linus Ullmark

Forsberg, Pettersson and Nylander are obvious merit-based picks as the three Swedish forwards playing at the highest level right now. Karlsson and Hedman won’t necessarily be the best blueliners on this team anymore, but it’s a sign of respect for the future Hall of Famers to give them the initial nods over players like Gustav Forsling and Rasmus Dahlin. While Jacob Markstrom is a threat, Ullmark arguably has the inside track to start in goal.

FINLAND

Sebastian Aho
Aleksander Barkov
Miro Heiskanen
Roope Hintz
Mikko Rantanen
Juuse Saros

Naming the Finns’ early selections was the simplest task of all. These six players stick out as their obvious best players. Aho, Barkov, Hintz and Rantanen are all-world talents, Heiskanen will be one of the best defensemen in the whole tournament, and Saros is pretty clearly Finland’s starter right now. It would be a mild upset if any one of these players wasn’t named to the initial six.

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Predicting the initial six players named to the 4 Nations Face-Off teams

CANADA

USA

SWEDEN

FINLAND

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