The NHL is hosting their own international competition called the 4 Nations Face-Off, which includes teams from Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland. Rosters for the teams have been submitted, and will be announced on Dec. 4, 2024. While we await that announcement, the writers at The Hockey Writers voted on a poll to fill in their own roster for each team, and now we will do Team Finland.
Each team will have 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goaltenders, as permitted by the roster rules of the tournament.
Without further ado, here is the projected roster the writers selected, with each position being listed alphabetically by last name.
Team Finland’s Forwards
Each team announced six players to their roster earlier in the year. Those players are marked with an asterisk.
- Sebastian Aho*
- Aleksander Barkov*
- Mikael Granlund
- Erik Haula
- Roope Hintz
- Kaapo Kakko
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
- Artturi Lehkonen
- Anton Lundell
- Eetu Luostarainen
- Matias Maccelli
- Mikko Rantanen*
- Teuvo Teravainen
The Finnish management team made no mistake by announcing forwards Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, and Mikko Rantanen. Outside of those three and maybe one or two more, the Finnish team doesn’t have an outstanding amount of star-power on the forward group, but where they will thrive is by having some high-end role players and some with great defensive impacts.
Being able to ice players like Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Roope Hintz, Anton Lundell, and others will allow the team to have a strong defensive presence while some of the top ones are off the ice.
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A strong middle-six group will see Teuvo Teravainen, Matias Maccelli, Artturi Lehkonen, and Mikael Granlund being in roles that could be very impactful for the team. While Team Finland might not have as strong of a group as the other nations, the balance of scoring, two-way play, and physicality will certainly help them in this tournament.
Team Finland’s Defense
- Jani Hakanpaa
- Miro Heiskanen*
- Henri Jokiharju
- Esa Lindell*
- Olli Maatta
- Niko Mikkola
- Rasmus Ristolainen
Having a top duo of Dallas Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell will allow some immediate stability as those two are quite familiar with each other and will likely be on the top pair of Team Finland’s defensive group. Heiskanen will be the offensive distributor from the back-end, while Lindell will add to the strong defense Heiskanen also brings.
Moving down the depth chart, the defensive group has Rasmus Ristolainen and Henri Jokiharju, who can provide good puck-moving play while also adding some to the defensive support for the rest of the group.
The other three, Olli Maatta, Jani Hakanpaa, and Niko Mikkola, are all prototypically the same kind of defensemen. They have big bodies, are physical, and are strong defensively. Regardless of where you put these players in the lineup, if they are at the top of their game, they will be great assets to be able to help wear down the superstars on the other teams.
Team Finland’s Goaltending
- Juuse Saros*
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
- Kevin Lankinen
Juuse Saros was a lock for a goaltending spot as soon as it was announced that the Finnish players would be participating. Saros is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, and certainly the best among Finnish-born goalies.
Moving to the backup job, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been great for the Buffalo Sabres for the last season and a half, even with their team struggling, he has been one of the brightest spots.
As for Kevin Lankinen, who may steal the backup role from Luukkonen, not many would have had him in this role even two months ago. In the 2024-25 season, the Vancouver Canucks desperately needed a solution in net with Thatcher Demko hurt, but after signing Lankinen, he has been among the best goalies in the league.
The Finnish team will have their work cut out for them, but they certainly will have a roster that can be as competitive as any, especially given the amount of strong two-way players they have available to them.
