NHL announces initial rosters for 4 Nations Face-Off between U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland
NHL announces initial rosters for 4 Nations Face-Off between U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland
The NHL and NHL Players' Association have announced the opening rosters for the 4 National Face-Off that will take place in February 2025. Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States each revealed the first six players that will make up their respective rosters for the inaugural tournament.
The rosters are as follows:
United States
Canada
- Nathan MacKinnon (F, Avalanche)
- Brad Marchand (F, Bruins)
Finland
- Juuse Saros (G, Predators)
- Miro Heiskanen (D, Stars)
- Esa Lindell (D, Stars)
- Sebastian Aho (F, Hurricanes)
- Aleksander Barkov (F, Panthers)
- Mikko Rantanen (F, Avalanche)
Sweden
- Gustav Forsling (D, Panthers)
- Victor Hedman (D, Lightning)
- Erik Karlsson (D, Penguins)
- Filip Forsberg (F, Predators
- William Nylander (F, Maple Leafs)
- Mika Zibanejad (F, Rangers)
Hockey Canada, Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Swedish Ice Hockey Association and USA Hockey will submit the remainder of their rosters between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2.
Each national team will be made up of 23 NHL players (20 skaters and three goaltenders). Those players must all be signed to an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and be a member of an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will take place at the Bell Centre (Montreal) and the TD Garden (Boston) in 2025. There will be a total of seven games played over nine days from Feb. 12-20.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will be played under NHL rules. Each of the four teams will play three tournament games in a round-robin format. The point system is as follows: three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime/shootout win, and one point for an overtime/shootout loss. The two teams that possess the best record at the end of those three games will advance and face-off in a one-game final to determine the champion.
This will mark the first time that NHL players have played for their national teams since 2014 when NHL players competed at the Olympics.