Seriously: Who should be Canada’s goalies at the 4 Nations Face-Off?

Jordan Binnington, Mackenzie Blackwood and Samuel Montembeault (Photos from Imagn Images)

Credit: Imagn Images

Good luck answering this question with a straight face:

Who will start in net for Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off?

Anyone who claims to have a definitive answer is lying. No Canadian goaltender has separated from the pack. No Canadian goaltender would even crack the top four choices for the American crease. The position projects to be a weakness and hold Canada back from tournament favorite status.

That said, Olympic GM Doug Armstrong and 4 Nations GM Don Sweeney still get to choose from a field of NHL keepers, several of them Stanley Cup winners, each of them capable of playing at a star level for an eight-day tournament. It’s just a matter of figuring out which three to bring. And before anyone comments that it doesn’t matter for a meaningless four-team event: the Canada brass aren’t just searching for their 4 Nations starting goalie. They’ll essentially be holding an eight-day audition for the 2026 Olympic crease, and anyone who excels at the 4 Nations will gain a leg up on making that team.

But seriously: who the heck are the top candidates for Canada right now? I canvassed a dozen fellow staffers at Daily Faceoff to nominate their trios. Let’s break down the candidates in order of how many votes they received.

NOTABLE OMISSIONS

The following Canadian NHL tenders received no votes from the 13-person panel (which included me as a voter):

Jake Allen, New Jersey Devils: He’s been solid as a 1B but isn’t even starting for his own team and hasn’t been a bellcow since his St. Louis days pre-Binnington.

Joey Daccord, Seattle Kraken: Wait, isn’t he American? He’s actually a dual citizen, and while none of us seriously considered him as a “Canadian” option, the team Canada brass reportedly has. Would that vault him near the top of the heap?

Connor Ingram, Utah Hockey Club: A great story last year but hasn’t recaptured the magic on a disappointing Utah team so far this season.

Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins: Even a year ago, he would’ve been an easy pick for the top three and even a candidate to start. He’s totally lost now. It’s tough to watch.

Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers: Reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final be damned, he’s far too inconsistent.

THE CANDIDATES

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues (10 votes)

Binnington is the obvious safe pick and arguably the most likely of any candidate to make the team in some capacity. He checks the right boxes in that (a) He’s a Stanley Cup winner, (b) he did it under Armstrong in St. Louis, and (c) he’s coming off an excellent 2023-24 season. Binnington is more experienced than most of the other candidates.

But wait: How sure are we that he’s still good? His play was steadily declining before last season’s correction, and he’s struggled to keep the puck out so far in 2024-25, albeit with a lackluster team in front of him.

Mackenzie Blackwood, San Jose Sharks (8 votes)

Can you say…recency bias? Blackwood has been quite the story on the lowly Sharks this season, keeping them in games. Among 34 goalies with 10 or more games played, he’s 14^th in goals saved above expected per 60. Because he’s playing on a young, rebuilding team, the difficulty of his workload is right near the top of the league. That he’s managed a .908 save percentage is somewhat miraculous. And if he can do that with San Jose, how good would Blackwood be with an elite team of superstars in front of him?

But wait: Can we hand a guy a national team spot because he’s had two good months? Until this year, Blackwood hadn’t been even an average NHL goalie since 2019-20.

Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens (7 votes)

Montembeault felt like the best kept secret potentially to man Canada’s crease for a good year. He was quietly one of the NHL’s best goaltenders relative to the difficulty of his workload last year. But it felt like his 48-save, season-opening shutout on a Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada put him on everyone’s radar. He’s been a bit up and down this season, mixing in the occasional implosion, but it’s hard to blame him given what little support he’s had on poor Montreal team. He ranks among the league leaders in expected goals against per 60 at 5-on-5. His case is similar to Blackwood’s: underrated goalie who could excel with a stronger team in front of him. Montembeault has been better for longer, though.

But wait: We’ve yet to see Montembeault in a truly competitive environment. He hasn’t logged a second of playoff hockey in his NHL career. Is he too untested to play a prominent high-pressure role for Canada?

Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights (4 votes)

There are many reasons to like Hill for Canada. He’s enormous in the net at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, offering little daylight for shooters when he’s at his best. He’s the most recent Stanley Cup champion of any Canadian candidate, having excelled for Vegas during its 2022-23 run. From a general reliability standpoint, he’s never really had a bad year since debuting in the NHL as an Arizona Coyote in 2017-18.

But wait: Durability is a question mark. Hill has yet to exceed 35 starts in a season. Would Vegas want him starting up to four high-stakes games in eight days in the middle of their season? Pacing for a career high in starts this season, Hill has also quietly stopped pucks at the worst rate of his career, posting an .888 SV% and saving -4.5 goals above average. Is he getting exposed a bit as his workload expands?

Cam Talbot, Detroit Red Wings (4 votes)

If we’re basing the pick on which goalie has played the best this season, it’s Talbot. He’s saved more goals above expected per 60 than all but one goalie in the NHL, let alone the Canadian ones, in 2024-25. The wily 37-year-old quietly carries a .914 career SV%. He’s been good more often than not in his career.

But wait: When Talbot goes cold, it tends to get really ugly, and he has also struggled in higher-pressure games of late, particularly last spring in the postseason as an L.A. King. Can he handle the heat?

Logan Thompson, Washington Capitals (4 votes)

Thompson for me is the Rodney Dangerfield pick of the group, deserving more respect. He offers an interesting blend of (a) size at 6-foot-4, 205, (b) experience playing on teams with high expectations and starting playoff games with Vegas last year and (c) strong current performance. In his first 10 starts as a Washington Capital, Thompson has lost one game in regulation.

But wait: Thompson is the least experienced of any candidate, with just 113 NHL games to his name. That makes his 4 Nations performance perhaps the toughest to predict.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Minnesota Wild (3 votes)

No other candidate can touch the experience of Fleury, the Future Hall of Famer and second-winningest goalie of all-time, who owns three Stanley Cup rings, 1.5 of which he earned as a starting netminder. As arguably the most beloved player among other players this generation, his dressing room impact alone makes him an intriguing candidate even as a third goalie. And if the other two younger tenders struggle, Fleury could step into a pressure-packed situation without blinking.

But wait: Fleury is 39, his game is in decline and he’s only played four games for the Minnesota Wild this season. Is he actually better than the other candidates at this stage of his amazing career?

Darcy Kuemper, Los Angeles Kings (2 votes)

Kuemper feels like a relatively safe if somewhat boring choice. He’s a Stanley Cup winner, he’s one of the more experienced candidates and he’s put his time in repping Canada in the past, backstopping them to a World Championship gold medal in 2021.

But wait: Kuemper hasn’t even been an above-average NHL goaltender since leaving Colorado as a free agent in 2022, going 39-42-12 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .901 SV%.

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