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, with this one being for Team Canada.
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 Canada’s Forwards
Each team announced six players to their roster earlier in the year. Those players are marked with an asterisk.
- Connor Bedard
- Sidney Crosby*
- Travis Konecny
- Nathan MacKinnon*
- Brad Marchand*
- Mitch Marner
- Connor McDavid*
- Brayden Point*
- Sam Reinhart
- Mark Scheifele
- Steven Stamkos
- Mark Stone
- Carter Verhaeghe
Hockey is Canada’s game, and with the ridiculous amount of star power on the forward group, there is no doubt they will be able to score plenty of goals. Starting the roster off with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, and Brayden Point makes for an already dangerous group.
MacKinnon, Crosby, and Marchand will likely make up an All-Nova Scotian line during the tournament, while McDavid, the greatest player on the planet, and Point, one of the best goal-scorers playing, will play key roles as well.
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There were plenty of players to choose from to fill out the rest of the roster. The votes went with Mitch Marner and Sam Reinhart, who are a fantastic goal-scoring and playmaking duo, Connor Bedard, who gets to represent Canada as a pro for the first time, and Steven Stamkos who has been one of Canada’s top players for over a decade.
Other stars include Carter Verhaeghe, Mark Stone, Travis Konecny, and Mark Scheifele, who have all played in very key roles for their respective teams.
Canada’s offensive group is without a doubt the strongest on paper. Having the top two players in the world on your team sure helps, too.
Team Canada’s Defense
- Evan Bouchard
- Dougie Hamilton
- Cale Makar*
- Josh Morrissey
- Alex Pietrangelo
- Shea Theodore
- Devon Toews
Cale Makar was the only non-forward named to the Canadian lineup earlier in the year, but he is the best defenseman in hockey, so that adds up. Partnered with him will likely be teammate Devon Toews, who is outstanding defensively and makes a good impact offensively as well.
Other defensemen like Dougie Hamilton, Evan Bouchard, and Josh Morrissey are offensively driven, but will have the support around them to be able to play freely.
Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, another pair of teammates, will help stabilize the offensive-minded players a bit more.
Team Canada’s Goaltending
- Jordan Binnington
- Adin Hill
- Logan Thompson
The biggest question mark for any team in this tournament is the Canadian goaltending. There are a handful of other players who could certainly be in the mix for these spots, and nobody has run away with the starting role.
Jordan Binnington has been pretty consistently good, but he isn’t among the top goalies in the league by any means. Adin Hill had a phenomenal run after being given a true opportunity with the Vegas Golden Knights, and Logan Thompson, after leaving Vegas, has shown he can play well too.
None of the goaltenders are sure-fire locks to make this team, but the voters had these three ahead of the rest by a good margin.
Outside of the goaltenders, Team Canada is looking good as always. They are never able to be counted out, and will look to win gold in this tournament.
