Instead of having an All-Star Game this season in the NHL, the league and the NHLPA will be staging the Four Nations Faceoff, which will run from February 12th to February 20th. This is a round robin tournament featuring the national teams of Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States, with the rosters composed of NHL players from all four of those countries.
Each team will play three games, with the top two teams playing in a winner-take-all final. Teams will receive three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and no points for a regulation loss.
The overtime period for the round robin games will be a 10-minute, 3-on-3 sudden death period. If the game is not decided in overtime, there will be a three-round shootout. In the championship game, overtime is held in the more traditional playoff format: Continuous 5-on-5 play in consecutive 20-minute periods until there is a winner.
The first four games of this tournament will be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, while the final three games, including the championship, will be held at TD Garden in Boston.
Each day, I will break down each team and getting an in-depth look at the rosters, position cores (forwards, defensemen and goaltending), surprises and snubs. Updates to each article may occur to account for potential roster replacements in the case of injuries or withdrawals.
Table of Contents
Background on Canada
Don Sweeney and Jim Nill were appointed by Doug Armstrong to be Canada’s general manager and associate general manager, respectively, for the Four Nations Faceoff. The two of them will be assistant GMs for the 2026 Canadian Winter Olympic team in men’s ice hockey to Armstrong.
The coaching staff of Canada will consist of Jon Cooper as their head coach, and his assistants are Rick Tocchet, Bruce Cassidy and Peter DeBoer. Canada has named Sidney Crosby as their team captain, and Connor McDavid and Cale Makar as alternate captains.
Forwards
| Player | Shoots | Birthplace | Team |
| Sam Bennett | Left | East Gwillimbury, Ontario | Florida Panthers |
| Anthony Cirelli | Left | Woodbridge, Ontario | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Sidney Crosby | Left | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Brandon Hagel | Left | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Seth Jarvis | Right | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Travis Konecny | Right | London, Ontario | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Nathan MacKinnon | Right | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Colorado Avalanche |
| Brad Marchand | Left | Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia | Boston Bruins |
| Mitch Marner | Right | Markham, Ontario | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Connor McDavid | Left | Richmond Hill, Ontario | Edmonton Oilers |
| Brayden Point | Right | Calgary, Alberta | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Sam Reinhart | Right | North Vancouver, British Columbia | Florida Panthers |
| Mark Stone | Right | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Vegas Golden Knights |
Canada is always a powerhouse, especially when it comes to their forwards. Since 2005, it was either Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid being the premier face of the NHL, and having them on the same team was a huge given. Hockey fans have waited for many years to see the two greatest generational talents in the modern era of hockey to represent Canada in a best-on-best tournament. Crosby set a very high bar when he scored the Golden Goal in 2010 and helped his country secure another gold medal in 2014, followed by coasting their way to the World Cup of Hockey championship in 2016. This could be the first signal of the true passing of the torch.
To go on from there, Canada is loaded with an enormous amount of talent, with Nathan MacKinnon being the next name to watch on the forward core, and he can play either center or wing on this Four Nations Faceoff roster. He’s made his name known among the top three players in the NHL today, and is also just coming off his first career Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Brad Marchand also played on Team Canada at the World Cup on Crosby’s line, and it would be interesting to potentially see an all-Nova Scotia lineup of Marchand, Crosby and MacKinnon.
Some of the other roster decisions were rather easy ones to make. Brayden Point is one of the best goal-scorers in the league, consistently putting up at least 40 goals per season, and is someone Jon Cooper really trusts. Sam Reinhart blossomed into a goal-scoring dynamo who can also defend and play on both the power play and penalty kill on the Panthers. Mitch Marner and Mark Stone are elite two-way players, given Marner’s status as a high-end playmaker at the attacking end and Stone’s reputation for being one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL.
The last five spots get interesting. Anthony Cirelli isn’t entirely just a defensive center, as he can chime in on the goal-scoring sheet too, though his inclusion was to help Canada defend against the likes of Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. Brandon Hagel is another player Cooper trusts and can play on both special teams.
Sandpaper is going to be needed on the roster, and Canada addressed that with Travis Konecny, who had back-to-back 30-goal seasons and is an agitator when on the ice. Sam Bennett also has a penchant for being a pest, throwing the body around while also chiming in goals at the net-front. Seth Jarvis gets the last spot as a two-way presence on the ice, gaining important experience ahead of a potential spot at the Olympics.
Defensemen
| Player | Shoots | Birthplace | Team |
| Cale Makar | Right | Calgary, Alberta | Colorado Avalanche |
| Josh Morrissey | Left | Calgary, Alberta | Winnipeg Jets |
| Colton Parayko | Right | St. Albert, Alberta | St. Louis Blues |
| Travis Sanheim | Left | Elkhorn, Manitoba | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Shea Theodore | Left | Aldergrove, British Columbia | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Devon Toews | Left | Abbotsford, British Columbia | Colorado Avalanche |
There are a lot of pieces that Canada can use for on this group. Canada was concerned about how the core would look like with who they have in net, so they went with more defensive defensemen to fit the mold. Noticeably missing from the roster are Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, who are elite offensive defensemen, but are not the defensemen that Canada was looking for.
During the 2010 Olympics, Canada had defense pairs that consisted of teammates: Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, and Ducks teammates Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. This trend resurfaces this year with Avalanche teammates Cale Makar and Devon Toews, who have emerged as the best defensive pair in the league.
Makar is the best defenseman in the NHL, and his skills offensively and defensively will make him the unquestioned top defenseman on Canada. Toews is also one of the best defensemen in the league on both ends as well, meaning there is little reason to break the pair up for this tournament.
Originally, the same case would have applied to Golden Knights teammates Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, who have been great in the last few seasons, before Pietrangelo withdrew from the Four Nations Faceoff to an undisclosed injury and to prepare for the rest of the season with Vegas. Still, Theodore has great puck-moving skills and is no slouch defensively.
Josh Morrissey took huge steps as a no. 1 defenseman over the last three seasons, and on top of his much-improved defense, he’s getting more points too. Travis Sanheim and Colton Parayko were surprises, but they both make sense, given Sanheim is in the same boat as Morrissey in the improvement and has also grown into a no. 1 defenseman with the Flyers. Parayko was the real surprise, but his physicality, size, and defensive play make a lot of sense in this group, especially since it could use some of that heavy-hitting against the hard-nosed forechecks like that of the Americans.
Goaltenders
| Player | Catches | Birthplace | Team |
| Jordan Binnington | Left | Richmond Hill, Ontario | St. Louis Blues |
| Adin Hill | Left | Comox, British Columbia | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Sam Montembeault | Left | Bécanour, Quebec | Montreal Canadiens |
This is without a doubt the weakest position on Canada. In past years, they always had the luxury of the likes of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Carey Price and Marc-André Fleury. Now, there isn’t really a dominant Canadian goalie. While each goaltender on this list has had their brightest moments, none of them are truly elite goalies in the NHL.
Jordan Binnington was a no-brainer. He has nearly 300 games of NHL experience and is a Stanley Cup champion with the Blues. He has had great seasons, but he hasn’t truly been consistent, even for his constant battles between eye test and analytics: While the analytics are not in favor of him in goals saved above expected, Blues fans believe he is serviceable enough to hold the fort in net. However, the fact that his save percentage is below the league average does not help his case, and with a short tournament like this, he has to be on his A-game.
In high-pressure situations, though Binnington has thrived. Adin Hill has too, backstopping the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup in 2023. The downside is that he hasn’t played enough hockey to convince people that he is an elite goaltender. Like Binnington, Hill doesn’t need to win Canada games, but he shouldn’t lose the games for them.
Given the team in front of who is in net, the same applies to Sam Montembeault. He bounced back strong after a very slow start, and is just at the under expected via the analytics. He’s only an insurance policy as a third-string goaltender.
Surprises
Brandon Hagel: Hagel wasn’t expected to make it to Canada’s Four Nations Faceoff final cuts, as it looked like Zach Hyman would land a spot on here instead. One could also argue that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would get one of the final spots given he’s a two-way Swiss Army knife. Hagel’s strong start to the season compared to Nugent-Hopkins’ slow start may have contributed to the factor of getting Hagel to the roster. An added bonus is that Jon Cooper knows him very well.
Sam Montembeault: At the time of final roster selections, both the Oilers and Canadiens had a rough start to the season. However, Stuart Skinner at the beginning of the season was very inconsistent, and at the time, had a minus-9.1 goals saved above expected, making it very hard to justify the selection. If the mantra was to do just enough to hold the fort, Montembeault was the safer selection.
Colton Parayko: Nobody was talking about Parayko until a week before the final roster selections. The initial surprise was because nobody was talking about him in the last three seasons outside of St. Louis and occasional trade talks. But after getting past the initial surprise, the selection of Parayko starts to make a lot more sense. He’s a right-shot defenseman who can kill penalties and hold his own in the defensive zone. He also knows Binnington’s tendencies as a goaltender.
Travis Sanheim: There were other defensemen in the mix for the final roster spot on Team Canada. Evan Bouchard, Dougie Hamilton and MacKenzie Weegar were in the mix, but Sanheim is holding his own with the Flyers, emerging as a top defenseman. He is averaging a career-high 24:32 of average time on ice, and his outstanding start to the season contributed to the decision to include him on the roster.
Snubs
Connor Bedard: Sidney Crosby got left off Canada’s national team as a teenager in the 2006 Winter Olympics. 19 years later, Bedard got left off Canada’s Four Nations Faceoff roster. A selection here would have landed him with Canada’s greatest players to prepare him for the 2026 Winter Olympics and in future international tournaments.
While he’s the brightest spot on a terrible Blackhawks team, his improvement on defense wasn’t enough to land him a spot on the bottom six. While it’s understandable what Canada is trying to do, it still feels disappointing not seeing the reigning Calder Trophy winner on an Original Six team that could become a future superstar in the NHL. He’s still worth watching, especially since this was a glorious opportunity to play with a lot of superstar players.
Evan Bouchard: Bouchard had some of the best offensive numbers of his career last season, with 82 points in 81 regular season games and 32 points in 25 playoff games, along with a +14 to lead all players throughout the postseason. Yet he was not named to Canada’s roster. If the argument is because he’s a byproduct of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, that’s not an argument against his inclusion.
He can excel with and also drive the performance of elite teammates around him, given he’s a great puck-mover and elite passer. In the end, it comes down to who is more well-rounded, which supports the inclusions of Josh Morrissey and Travis Sanheim over Bouchard. Maybe the Winter Olympics are a different story, where Bouchard continues to improve on his all-around game. Or perhaps he could be reconsidered because of Alex Pietrangelo’s withdrawal.
Dougie Hamilton: Hamilton is a big and rangy defenseman, a power play quarterback, and an excellent play-driver at five-on-five. There are a lot of attributes to his game, except that he doesn’t spend time on the penalty kill. He’s also not on a shutdown pairing on the Devils, either. Another downside is that he’s never really a favorite on Canada’s brass: He hasn’t represented his country since the 2013 World Juniors. Plus, Canada’s general manager just so happens to be the same GM that traded him away from the Boston Bruins. Despite him being potentially a solid pick for Canada, it didn’t seem like he would have had a shot on the roster.
Zach Hyman: It is very hard to pass up on a winger who has scored 117 goals in his first three seasons on the wing of the best hockey player in the world. He also just passed Alex Ovechkin’s record of most goals in a single postseason in the salary cap era as well. Yet, the decision becomes a little easier when he gets off to an extremely slow start, where he scored three goals in the first 20 games of the regular season compared to scoring 54 goals in the previous year. He’s up to 17 goals now, but that early season slump was going to bite him.
Mark Scheifele: This has to sting a lot for Scheifele. He started off the season on a tear, with 13 goals and 27 points in 26 games with the Jets, and is now at 31 goals and 61 points in 54 games. Scheifele, who was 23 in 2016 and on the all Under-24 Team North America roster, saw many of his teammates in that tournament graduate and play for their nations, but he continues getting passed over for several reasons.
First, he wasn’t going to make it to the top six group, given that core already has a plethora of elite talent. Second, his defense has been questionable at best, so a bottom six role is not well-suited for him. And third, him not getting a bottom-six role was already going to be the case when Canada chose to go with more defensive options on the bottom six, such as Anthony Cirelli and Travis Konecny.
Logan Thompson: While choosing Montembeault over the aforementioned Stuart Skinner made sense, what is the big head-scratcher was leaving Logan Thompson off the roster, especially since goaltending is the weakest link for Canada. Thompson is now having what is easily the best season of his NHL career, with a 2.05 GAA and a .927 save percentage, and is also 23-2-3. Spencer Carbery’s system has allowed him to thrive, yet if they were scared off by his lack of experience given his four career Stanley Cup playoff games and four world championship games, it should also be noted that Montembeault has not played in a Stanley Cup playoff game in his career.
MacKenzie Weegar: There are a lot of check boxes that fit the mold with Weegar. He’s big and strong, can play both special teams, he’s a right-shot defenseman that can also play on the left side if needed, can play against his opponents’ top players, and is a historically high-end play driver at five-on-five. He’s among the most well-rounded defensemen in the sport.
While people speak of Bouchard and his elite offensive prowess, when looking at the big picture as a whole, Weegar makes more sense right now. His 20-goal season from a year ago was an outlier, but he doesn’t need to score that many goals to thrive. At the time of final roster selections, Canada decided to go with the bigger and more physical Parayko for the final defensive roster spot, but now that Pietrangelo has opted out, the front office could revisit and get Weegar on the roster.
Overall
For Canada, they’ll have to play well enough in front of their goaltending so that their goaltending being average doesn’t come back to bite them. They have all the pieces to pull off a championship run, with the generational talents they have and accomplished forwards who can get the most on both ends of the ice, along with two high-end defensive pairings (pending the decision on Pietrangelo’s replacement) on the blueline that could play 50 minutes if the situation calls for it.
What can also benefit Canada in their quest for a championship is significant championship experience. While Americans Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel and Jake Guentzel have Stanley Cups, Canada has a plethora of championship experience in Crosby, MacKinnon, Makar, Point, Marchand, among others, including two goaltenders who won a Stanley Cup in their career.
However, while the Stanley Cups are nice, Canada needs competent goaltending throughout the entire tournament if they want to win. If they get that, they’ll continue to add on to their already full trophy case given everything they have: From the best player in the world, to the best defenseman in the world, to perhaps even the best coach in the world.
Projected Lineups
Forward Lines
- Sam Reinhart — Connor McDavid — Mitch Marner
- Brad Marchand — Sidney Crosby — Nathan MacKinnon
- Brandon Hagel — Brayden Point — Mark Stone
- Seth Jarvis — Anthony Cirelli — Travis Konecny
- Extra: Sam Bennett
Defense Pairs
- Devon Toews — Cale Makar
- Shea Theodore — Colton Parayko
- Josh Morrissey — Travis Sanheim
- Extra: MacKenzie Weegar*
*prediction
Goaltenders
- Starter: Jordan Binnington
- Backup: Adin Hill
- Third String: Sam Montembeault
Power Play
| First Unit | Second Unit | |
| Quarterback | Cale Makar | Shea Theodore |
| Left Circle | Nathan MacKinnon | Devon Toews |
| Right Circle | Connor McDavid | Mitch Marner |
| Bumper | Sidney Crosby | Brayden Point |
| Net-Front | Sam Reinhart | Mark Stone |
Penalty Kill
| First Unit | Second Unit | |
| Center | Anthony Cirelli | Seth Jarvis |
| Forward | Brandon Hagel | Mark Stone |
| Left Defense | Devon Toews | Travis Sanheim |
| Right Defense | Colton Parayko | Cale Makar |
Check out our other Four Nations Face-Off breakdowns:
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