Who could build a better ‘B’ Team at the 4 Nations Face-Off: Canada or USA?
When general managers select rosters for best-on-best hockey events, the second-guessing practically becomes its own sport. But do you ever notice that the handwringing is almost exclusive to discussing Canada and the USA? That’s because those two teams have by far the deepest pools of NHL-grade stars to choose from, meaning their decision makers have much more difficult calls to make than those of the other nations. Whereas Canada and the U.S. had to leave defensemen Evan Bouchard and John Carlson home, for instance, the Finns pretty much brought every NHL blueliner they had.
And because there are so many difficult ties to break for Canada and the U.S., lists of players left out tend to be loaded with impressive talents.
That got us thinking: how good would the Canadian and American B squads look if they were allowed to enter second teams into the 4 Nations Face-Off? Which nation would ice the better entry? Frank Seravalli and I took a crack at building teams of jilted players.
TEAM CANADA ‘B’ – By Matt Larkin
Forwards
| Carter Verhaeghe | Mathew Barzal | Zach Hyman |
| Steven Stamkos | Mark Scheifele | Wyatt Johnston |
| Alexis Lafreniere | Macklin Celebrini | Connor Bedard |
| John Tavares | Robert Thomas | Tom Wilson |
| Nick Suzuki |
Also considered: Jordan Kyrou, Quinton Byfield, Dylan Strome, Matt Duchene, Drake Batherson, Bo Horvat, Jared McCann, Dylan Guenther, Nazem Kadri, Ryan O’Reilly, Sean Monahan, Connor McMichael
Defensemen
| MacKenzie Weegar | Evan Bouchard |
| Thomas Chabot | Dougie Hamilton |
| Morgan Rielly | Chris Tanev |
| Noah Dobson |
Also Considered: Aaron Ekblad, Thomas Harley, Brandon Montour, Darnell Nurse, Kris Letang, Owen Power, Jakob Chychrun, Vince Dunn, Bowen Byram
Goaltenders
| Logan Thompson |
| Cam Talbot |
| Mackenzie Blackwood |
Also considered: Stuart Skinner, Darcy Kuemper, Jake Allen, Marc-Andre Fleury
Larkin’s Logic: As expected, the Canadian B quad looks pretty damn good – to the point it would give the A squad competitive games. Heck, if you look at the “Also considered” category, Canada’s C squad would be strong, too. I didn’t expect to have such tough decisions and cuts even when compiling a team of players who didn’t make the 4 Nations Face-Off!
Offensively, Canada has a lot of goal-scoring talent here. Steven Stamkos is the power-play weapon with his one-timer. With him at the half boards, Zach Hyman net-front and the ridiculous snub Evan Bouchard launching his Bouch Bombs from the point, Canada B’s top power play unit will be deadly. Matt Barzal and Mark Scheifele fill the pure offensive center roles, while there was a nice stable of two-way playmakers to choose from lower in the lineup, and I opted for the upside of Robert Thomas and Nick Suzuki over vets like Bo Horvat and Ryan O’Reilly. The most fun line in the tournament: my ‘Passed Over No. 1 Pick Line’ of Alexis Lafreniere, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard. I’m hoping they can excel in sheltered matchups as the third line, with Celebrini’s superior faceoff prowess pushing Bedard to the wing, where he can focus on scoring goals. Beast Tom Wilson and John Tavares, who has quietly become a more physical player in his mid-30s, round out my checking group.
The D-corps has loads of mobility with Dougie Hamilton, Morgan Rielly and Thomas Chabot backing up Bouchard, while MacKenzie Weegar and Chris Tanev can fill the shutdown roles and kill penalties. Honestly: if I squint, I can convince myself this D-corps is just as good if not better than the one Canada chose for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Same goes for the goalies. Logan Thompson, Cam Talbot and Mackenzie Blackwood each rank near the top of the NHL in goals saved above expected per 60 – and above Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault, the actual picks for Canada’s A team. Go figure.
All in all: this team may lack a true present-day superstar, but it’s just as deep as Canada A and may even have a slight edge on defense and in goal.
TEAM USA ‘B’ – By Frank Seravalli
Forwards
| Jason Robertson | Tage Thompson | Brock Boeser |
| Clayton Keller | Logan Cooley | Cole Caufield |
| Stefan Noesen | Casey Mittelstadt | Alex Tuch |
| Matthew Knies | Josh Norris | Conor Garland |
| Anders Lee |
Also considered: Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Alex Laferriere, Troy Terry, Kyle Palmieri, Matty Beniers, Nick Schmaltz.
Defensemen
| Jake Sanderson | John Carlson |
| Alex Vlasic | Neal Pionk |
| Mikey Anderson | Seth Jones |
| Matt Roy |
Also Considered: Brett Pesce, Ryan McDonagh, Luke Hughes, Brady Skjei, Nick Jensen, Lane Hutson, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller, Shayne Gostisbehere, Mason Lohrei.
Goaltenders
| Anthony Stolarz |
| Thatcher Demko |
| Joey Daccord |
Also considered: Dustin Wolf, Charlie Lindgren, Jonathan Quick, Joseph Woll, John Gibson, Alex Lyon, Alex Nedeljkovic.
Seravalli Says: First off, the Red, White and Blue get to claim Joey Daccord in goal – you know, the only country where he actually holds a passport as citizen. Either way, with Demko now back, the fact that Daccord is the third-best goaltender on our USA ‘B’ team – and Canada was actually working behind the scenes to get him selected as the third goalie for the main 4 Nations tournament team – speaks to the embarrassment of riches in the American goaltending pipeline. It’s entirely possible that the next best goaltending trio in the tournament would be the U.S. ‘B’ team, which would give Sweden’s beefy backstoppers a run for their money.
The fascinating part of this ‘B’ team roster exercise is wrapping your brain around just how many lethal scorers the Americans left on the table. Snipers like Thompson, Boeser, Robertson and Caufield could be flanked by legitimate playmakers such as Keller, who for my money is Mitch Marner Lite. Stocked with world-class grinders and competitors such as Garland, Lee and Knies, this American entry would make the lunch pail crew proud with their work ethic and compete. Some may be surprised by the inclusion of Noesen, but he’s proven that knowing how to play with skill players is a skill in and of itself. It was difficult to leave off perhaps the best American-born player of all-time in Patrick Kane, but his health is a question as much as the state of his game when he’s not on the power play.
On defense, what’s so exciting is the youth available to Team USA. Vlasic is a bonafide threat to make the 2026 Olympic team for Milan, as is Jake Sanderson, who was in the mix right up until the end for 4 Nations and could be one of the first injury replacements. Roy is a true defense-first defender who doesn’t get enough credit, nor does Anderson by playing for the Kings in the pacific time zone. You could almost make a third full USA team as a ‘C’ entry that would give this ‘B’ defense corps a true challenge.
In the end, Canada being able to boast a third line of Lafreniere-Celebrini-Bedard is quite something – a trio of No. 1 overall picks – and that probably trumps whatever the Americans have on offer, much to my chagrin.
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