Maple Leafs Candidates for the 4 Nations Face-Off - The Hockey Writers - Toronto Maple Leafs

Best-on-best competition is coming! The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off is less than three months away, and the buzz is sure to pick up with the official announcement of the rosters for the four participating countries to be announced on Dec. 4. At The Hockey Writers, we’ve been projecting the players who will represent Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland since back in February.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will certainly be keeping a close eye on the tournament. Based on the June unveiling of each country’s first six players, the club already knows that Auston Matthews will be representing the United States and William Nylander will suit up for Sweden – if health allows, which is a big ‘if’ around Leafs Nation these days.

But Matthews and Nylander probably won’t be the only Maple Leafs to participate. Of the organization’s opening night roster for the 2024-25 NHL season, only Czechia’s David Kampf was born outside of the four nations involved. And among those many candidates for inclusion in the tournament, there are plenty whose play will merit consideration.

Let’s take a look at some of the Maple Leafs who might be chosen to join Matthews and Nylander come February:

Mitch Marner

With top forwards already named to Team USA and Sweden, it only makes sense to have a Maple Leaf representing Canada as well. And Mitch Marner certainly fits the bill. At this point, he might even be considered a lock.

Marner currently ranks tied for fourth among Canadian forwards in NHL scoring, sitting behind only Nathan MacKinnon (already named to the team), Sam Reinhart (another near-lock) and Dylan Strome, whose career season could be slowed by Alex Ovechkin’s injury in Washington. In fact, most early lineup projections have the winger flanking Connor McDavid on the top line. His steady, consistent presence can be easy to take for granted in Toronto, but the combination of elite skill and two-way abilities, including on special teams, he brings makes him a major asset to Team Canada.

Morgan Rielly

Unlike Marner, most current projections don’t have Morgan Rielly making the cut for the Canadians. That has more to do with the depth of the Canadian blue line than any deficiencies in Rielly’s game this season, as the presence of guys like Cale Makar, Evan Bouchard, Shea Theodore and Josh Morrissey make it a tough unit to crack. The inclusion of the 30-year-old will likely boil down to how he stacks up against younger guys like Noah Dobson and Owen Power, as well as whether the importance of familiarity and chemistry prompts the inclusion of Makar’s defensive partner, Devon Toews.

While Rielly’s game has shown no signs of regression this season, he is quietly seeing his usage scaled back as he gets a bit older and the Maple Leafs’ blue line gets deeper. His 21:19 of average ice time to date represents his lowest since 2014-15, nearly two and a half minutes less per game than last season. If Team Canada opts to go younger on the back end, it seems likely that Rielly could find himself on the outside looking in along with the likes of decorated veterans Drew Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Sweden is so deep on the blue line that three of the six players on their initial list – Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Gustav Forsling – were rearguards. At this point in the 2024-25 campaign, however, you could argue that Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been as strong a defenceman as any of them.

After signing in the offseason as a free agent, Ekman-Larsson has found a home with the Maple Leafs, bringing toughness, physicality and some offence to Toronto’s suddenly strong back end. Fresh off a Stanley Cup triumph as part of the Florida Panthers, the 33-year-old is now serving as a crucial part of a unit that has allowed the second-lowest average goals against in the league.

OEL 1K, how Swede it is 👏 pic.twitter.com/4GSkKniceP
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 17, 2024

But while Ekman-Larsson merits inclusion based on his performance thus far, he could be caught up in a numbers game with Team Sweden. With three defencemen already selected (they may want that Karlsson pick back), there are only four remaining slots to be filled. And the recent addition to the 1,000-games club is expected to be in tough competing for a spot against the likes of Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Andersson, Mattias Ekholm, Jonas Brodin and Hampus Lindholm.

Anthony Stolarz & Joseph Woll

Could a Maple Leafs goaltender find themselves among the three goalies on the Team USA roster? And if so, which one will it be? This would have seemed like an odd question heading into the season, but even as Anthony Stolarz has exceeded every expectation with his new team, Joseph Woll has suddenly come on strong with pretty impressive numbers of his own. Not only are both men vying for a larger role in the Toronto crease, but both look like potential dark horse candidates within a strong American goaltending pool.

As he prepares to pay a visit to his Cup-winning former Panthers team, Stolarz has been a revelation since signing in Toronto. Through 12 games, he owns a 7-3-2 record with a 2.18 goals-against average (GAA) and a .927 save percentage (SV%), somehow better than his league-best .925 mark from last season. Woll, meanwhile, started the season on the sidelines but has since rounded into form that saw him named as one of the NHL’s three stars last week. Having earned starts in three of the Maple Leafs’ past four games, he has essentially caught up to his goaltending partner with a 5-2 record, a 2.00 GAA and .922 SV%.

The biggest hurdle for both men might be their talented competition. Each has been among the top US goalies so far this season, but they would both need to overcome the impressive track records of puck stoppers like Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman and Thatcher Demko. Stolarz has championship experience and Woll has youth on his side, but this could ultimately wind up as a case of too many other options.

Jani Hakanpaa

Jani Hakanpaa was barely even mentioned among any preseason projections of Finland’s 4 Nations roster. After all, he was still facing a long road to recovery from off-season arthroscopic knee surgery at the time, with lingering questions regarding whether he’d even ever play again. Now that the question about his future in hockey has been answered, the focus is now on whether he can show enough in a short time frame to merit consideration for the Finnish blue line.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hakanpaa has looked rusty in his first two games since last March. In 15 minutes against Washington and 12 against Edmonton, the 32-year-old provided some physical play and blocked a few shots, but also appeared slow and struggled to limit offensive opportunities. He was scratched from two subsequent games in favour of Simon Benoit. Still, as a potential part of a Team Finland back end that appears thin after Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen, they may opt for the size, toughness and experience that Hakanpaa offers.

Matthew Knies

Cracking the Team USA forward corps won’t be easy. Even if you remove a stacked center depth chart that includes Matthews, Jack Eichel, Tage Thompson, Dylan Larkin and Clayton Keller, all of Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Guentzel, Cole Caufield, Jack Hughes, Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor, Jason Robertson, Brock Boeser, Vincent Trocheck and others are contending for spots on the wing. That’s a lot of talent for not a ton of available spots.

However, Matthew Knies might be able to offer benefits that the rest of that impressive field cannot. For one thing, there’s his age. At 22, he is younger than any of the aforementioned names. If the United States wants to take a flyer on a player with an eye toward international development moving forwards, the University of Minnesota alum would be an interesting choice.

Knies also offers value as a power forward, occupying a fairly unique role that only the Tkachuk brothers truly represent otherwise. That willingness to play with an edge could make him an asset in the bottom-six, or as the gritty clean-up guy in front of the net on a line with talented linemates. After all, that’s how he’s already managed a respectable eight goals in what is his sophomore NHL season. He’s certainly a long shot for Team USA, but he might also be a long shot that makes a lot of sense.

To recap, the Maple Leafs have two sure-thing participants in Matthews and Nylander, one near-lock in Marner and a bunch of interesting possibilities beyond those three. While it would certainly be exciting to hear some familiar names called next Wednesday when the 4 Nations rosters are announced, you also can’t blame the club’s front office for secretly wishing for some rest and recovery time instead of a physically demanding, competitive mid-season tournament. Nevertheless, as part of a successful start to the season, it would be pretty cool to see some Toronto players showing what they can do on the international stage come February.