The 4 Nations Face-Off rosters have been released, and now that the teams are public, it is time to compare them and finish with a power ranking for the four teams.
The tournament will begin Feb. 12, 2025, and teams will have until then to make any changes to their roster due to injuries. It has been a significant period of time since we have had the opportunity to watch best-on-best hockey, and while there are certainly some nations and stars missing, this is a great start.
Forward Group Comparison
Canada
Team Canada is always a powerhouse, especially when it comes to the forwards. There hasn’t been a time since 2005 that one of Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid wasn’t the unanimous best player in the NHL. Having them be the top two centers was a given, and following them in the lineup at center is Brayden Point, who could challenge for the Rocket Richard Trophy this season, and Anthony Cirelli, who will make for an excellent fourth-line shut-down center.
On the wings, there is an unreal amount of talent. Nathan MacKinnon, who naturally plays center, will likely be on the wing of Crosby and have Brad Marchand on the other side for an all-Nova Scotian line, with a great amount of skill and good two-way play.
Sam Reinhart, who currently leads the league in goals, Mark Stone, one of the best defensive forwards, and Mitch Marner, one of the best pure playmakers, will round out the top end of the forward group very well. Lower in the lineup, Sam Bennett, Brandon Hagel, Travis Konecny, and Seth Jarvis will fill in the bottom-six wings, and having depth like that on a forward group, even in a best-on-best tournament, is what wins games.
There are some forwards that could certainly have a case to be on the team, but each of these forwards is more than deserving, too.
USA
Team Canada’s biggest competition for the forward group has to be the USA. Offensive superstars Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Jake Guentzel, Matthew Tkachuk, Matt Boldy, and Kyle Connor will likely lead the way at the top of the forward group. There is no doubt that these players can score goals, and they have a great mix of speed, physicality, and two-way play to bring alongside the scoring threat.
Deeper in the lines, players like Brady Tkachuk, Chris Kreider, Brock Nelson, and Vincent Trocheck will be tough to play against. These players are ones who can wear you down, but of course, still have some excellent offensive skills.
Related: Team USA Announces 4 Nations Face-Off Roster
Rounding out the forwards are J.T. Miller and Jack Hughes. Both players have some excellent offensive instincts and can leave any player in the dust behind them as they create offense all on their own.
Team USA can come pretty close to matching the offensive output from Canada, but where they shine is the toughness. Canada has some players, but USA will have even more, and are able to deploy them in waves and always have a thorn on the ice.
There isn’t much to complain about with Team USA’s forward groups, either. Some could point to the defensive reliability of some of the forwards, but there are some underrated defensive players there including Matthews, Dylan Larkin, and Trocheck. They are more than capable of carrying a strong defensive workload on top of being offensive.
Sweden
The forward group for Team Sweden has a really strong mix of physical, defensive, and scoring players. In terms of two-way forwards, they definitely take the cake. Players like Elias Pettersson, Elias Lindholm, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Adrian Kempe are some of the best two-way forwards in the game, but can certainly chip in on the goal-scoring, too.
Their top players, Filip Forsberg, Mika Zibanejad, William Nylander, Jesper Bratt, and Lucas Raymond are all high-octane scoring players, and will be able to take over any game. Seeing a three-goal performance from any of these players wouldn’t surprise anybody, and they all play with great speed and skill.
To round out their team, Viktor Arvidsson, William Karlsson, Gustav Nyquist, and Leo Carlsson all play different types of hockey but can blend in well with nearly any player. Arvidsson is an offense-first one, Carlsson is a good two-way player with good physicality, Karlsson is a shot-first player, and Nyquist is a great playmaker.
The Swedish team is full of versatile players and has an excellent defensive forward group. A lot of Swedish stars follow a defensively strong yet offensively gifted prototype, which has always allowed Sweden to be competitive in international tournaments despite not necessarily having big-name players like USA and Canada.
Finland
In a similar fashion to Team Sweden, the Finnish team will have a lot of high-end two-way players. Aleksander Barkov, the top defensive forward in the entire league, is joined by centers Roope Hintz, Sebastian Aho, and Anton Lundell. All four centers can be dominant on either side of the puck. There is a lot of pride in a complete game for these Finnish centermen.
On the left wing, Mikael Granlund is having an unbelievable season and has seemingly rejuvenated his career with the San Jose Sharks, and has become a 60+ point player again. Artturi Lehkonen and Teuvo Teravainen are strong skaters, with great offensive instincts, and Eetu Luostarinen played a big role in the bottom six of last season’s Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers.
The right wing consists of a few players with some of the best shots in the NHL. Mikko Rantanen and Patrik Laine have incredible goal-scoring capabilities, and while they haven’t shown to be the best defensively, there is a lot of that already with the top players. Below them will be Kaapo Kakko and Joel Armia, who are both great defensively and can be used well on the penalty kill.
Finland will have a great opportunity to upset the other three nations with their defensive presence. Pure shut-down hockey against the biggest names in the league is impressive, but if any team can do it, it will be Finland.
Defense Group Comparison
Canada
Canada had a lot of moving pieces when it came to the defense group. Some players missing from the list include Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, who have established themselves as some pretty high-end defensemen but aren’t necessarily the type Canada was looking for.
The pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews has worked for the Colorado Avalanche, and will likely transition seamlessly into the international tournament. Makar is the best defenseman in the world, and has great skills offensively and defensively, and is without a doubt the top option. Toews has shown to be one of the best in the league as well, but hasn’t had a strong season so far.
Related: Team Canada Announces 4 Nations Face-Off Roster
Another duo from the same team is Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo. Both defensemen have been great over the past few seasons, and helped carry the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup. Pietrangelo has slowed down a bit, but he is still a great defensive option with physicality. Theodore has some better puck-moving skills, but certainly isn’t a slouch defensively either.
The other three defensemen named to the team are Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, and Travis Sanheim. Morrissey has taken some giant steps over the past three seasons, and on top of his strong defensive efforts, he is earning a lot more points, too. The same could be said about Sanheim, who has been a great option for the Philadelphia Flyers. Parayko was a bit of a surprise, but his physicality, size, and defensive play makes a lot of sense to mix into the group.
Canada has a lot of very strong puck-moving options, but none of these defensemen sacrifice defense to do it.
USA
The American defensive group has the second-best defenseman in the world, and is pretty close to taking the crown. Quinn Hughes is a phenomenal two-way player who scores at an excellent rate and plays strong defensively. Following him in the roster is Adam Fox, another one of the best in the game at both ends of the ice.
Behind those two, and a perfect partner for each one, is Jaccob Slavin and Charlie McAvoy. Both play very well defensive games, and while McAvoy can chip in offensively, they both have unique styles of being a shut-down defensemen.
Rounding the group out is Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, and Noah Hanifin. Werenski is having the best season of his career and is the biggest part of the success the Columbus Blue Jackets are finding this season. Faber burst into the league and while playing more minutes than almost anybody else, dominated the ice every time he touched it. As for Hanifin, he is a great two-way defenseman who can be trusted by anybody in any role.
Team USA has the best defensive group in this tournament, and while some will argue Canada should be there, or even Sweden, it has to be the Americans with how big, mobile and gifted each of their defensemen are.
Sweden
Sweden announced three defensemen to their team prior to the full roster announcement. Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman were two of the best defensemen in the league throughout the 2010’s, and there was no surprise to see them on the list. Karlsson is one of the best pure offensive defensemen the league has ever seen, and Hedman is an extremely well-rounded player who plays with great passion and physicality.
Gustav Forsling was the other one named early, and over the past few seasons, he has gone from a journeyman to one of the top defensemen in the league and will now represent his country as a great defensive player.
Related: Team Sweden’s 4 Nations Face-Off Roster Announced
Behind those three is Rasmus Andersson, one of the most underrated defensemen in the league, Mattias Ekholm and Jonas Brodin, two of the best shut-down defensemen in the league, and Rasmus Dahlin, who is a young up-and-coming superstar defenseman.
This is a defense-first group for sure, and with the options they have, Sweden could have a very dangerous blueline.
Finland
The Finnish defensive group isn’t as strong as the other parts of their roster. The top of the group has Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, two Dallas Stars defensemen who play very good, structured hockey. They both are strong defensively, but Heiskanen adds a level of offense the Finnish team will need as they won’t get much from the rest of the group.
Olli Maatta, Jani Hakanpaa, Niko Mikkola, and Lindell all play a similar style of game. Big, very physical, strong defensive minds. They won’t generate very much offense at all, which isn’t necessarily a problem if Heiskanen and the forwards can get the job done, but they are very tough to play against.
Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Ristolainen are the other two defensemen, and both play a good two-way game and can move the puck well.
This defensive group is going to go one of two ways. They will either be an excellent defensive group that doesn’t allow any opportunities against, or they will be exposed for their speed and lack of offense and struggle.
Goaltending Comparison
Canada
The weakest position on Team Canada is without a doubt their goaltending. In the past, Canadians have always had the luxury of being able to pick goalies like Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Carey Price, Marc-Andre Fleury, and the list goes on and on. Now, there is no dominant Canadian goalie, and while each of these goalies has had strong showings at points in the last few years, Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington, and Sam Montembault aren’t elite goaltenders in the NHL.
Binnington won the 2019 Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues, and since then he has had some great seasons, but hasn’t been consistent, and with a short tournament like this, you need to be reliable.
Adin Hill won the Cup with the Golden Knights but hasn’t played enough hockey in one stretch to be convincing that he is an elite goalie either. With Montembault, he started this season very strong, and while the Montreal Canadiens are a weak team, he has sustained good stats.
There isn’t a ton of confidence in these goalies to match up with the options from the other nations, but they are all certainly capable of stealing games and playing well.
USA
An unreal crop of goaltenders for Team USA is what could lead them to victory in this tournament. Connor Hellebuyck, the best goalie in the NHL, just won the Vezina Trophy, and is only the second active goalie to win it multiple times.
Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman, while not having the best seasons of their careers, are in the Vezina conversation almost every single season, and should be for many years to come.
The USA could have the best trio of goaltenders we have seen in international play in a very long time. Even if their defense, which is as strong as could be, isn’t working, they have three of the best goalies in the world to backstop them.
Sweden
Team Sweden has a great trio as well, and while on paper, it may be a step down from USA’s, all it takes is a few good games in a tournament this short.
Their starter will likely be Filip Gustavsson, who is one of the best goalies this season, and the third Minnesota Wild player on the team. If that isn’t working, proven goaltenders Jacob Markstrom and Linus Ullmark will have his back as they have each dominated at points over the last decade.
The Swedish team, with their goalies and combined team defense, will have a great shot at minimizing goals against in this tournament.
Finland
Juuse Saros is without a doubt the top goalie for Team Finland. He has been a perennial Vezina candidate, and has been one of the most reliable goalies in the league for the past number of years.
Related: Team Finland Names 4-Nations Face-Off Roster
Different from the other teams, Finland has one sure-fire starter and two lower-tier goalies. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Kevin Lankinen haven’t proven themselves to be great, reliable goalies, but this season, they have been the most valuable asset to each of their respective teams.
In a similar way Sweden has it, the Finnish team can build on strong defensive team play, and Saros is more than capable of dominating a tournament.
Power Ranking
4. Sweden
While the Swedish team has a ton of great pieces, so do the other teams. One of them ahs to finish last, and while this tournament will likely be very close and Sweden could be just as likely to win the whole thing, I have them ranked last.
3. Finland
The strong defensive play from Finland will land them in third place. They have so many elite defensive players as well as two of the best goal-scorers in hockey, and backed by their physical defensemen, they will be a tough team to play against.
2. Canada
It will come down to the goaltending for Canada. It is entirely possible for Canada to win, and they may be the favorite in many other rankings, but the level of physicality may not be enough to compete with some of the other teams in this tournament.
1. USA
Elite goal-scoring, great physical play, strong defensive minds, and the best goaltending is what will lead USA to victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
