Updated Team Canada Projections for 2025 Four Nations Face-Off: October 2024
The first international best-on-best hockey tournament in nearly a decade will take place this February when the Four Nations Cup kicks off with the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden all competing.
We already know the first six players to be included on the Canadian team, and they will be Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand and Cale Makar. It is a great starting point, and now that the 2024-25 NHL season is underway, and we are inching closer to the tournament, it is time to take another updated look at what the Team Canada roster could look like.
First-Line Forwards
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Zach Hyman - Connor McDavid - Mitch Marner
McDavid being the top-line center is the easiest call on the roster. He is the best, most dynamic offensive player in the world and will be the focal point of the Team Canada offense.
Is Hyman one of the most talented players on this roster? Probably not. Is he likely to repeat the 50-goal season he had in 2023-24? Maybe not. But he has turned into a bonafide top-line player and he has tremendous chemistry alongside McDavid. Sometimes chemistry can be an issue for teams like this, and Canada already knows McDavid and Hyman are a dynamic connection and it would be insane to try and split it up.
Marner's stock has seemingly fallen in Toronto after another Maple Leafs playoff failure, but it has reached a point where he might be a little underrated as a player. He remains a top-tier offensive talent and would be a great fit on the top line.
Second-Line Forwards
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Brad Marchand - Sidney Crosby - Nathan MacKinnon
Speaking of great chemistry, it would be fascinating to see how this trio could play alongside one another given how close they are off the ice.
Crosby and MacKinnon have the Cole Harbour connection, while Marchand is still a tremendous two-way player who could be a great defensive presence on this line.
Crosby might be in his late 30s, but he is still one of the best players in the world. MacKinnon would be playing out of position on this line, but that sometimes has to happen on teams like this. It seems like a little less of a risk given the likely chemistry between him and Crosby.
Third-Line Forwards
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Steven Stamkos - Brayden Point - Mark Stone
With Stamkos signing with Nashville in free agency, he and Point are no longer teammates in the NHL.
But this would be a good opportunity to reunite them on a line together.
Again -- chemistry and experience alongside each other.
Between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons Stamkos and Point spent nearly 900 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together, outscoring teams by a 60-47 margin in those minutes and having a better than 53 percent expected goals share.
When Stone is healthy he is an elite two-way presence and would, in theory, do a lot of the heavy lifting on this line defensively. The big wild card here is whether or not Stone is healthy and playing, because that has been a big issue for him in recent years.
Fourth-Line Forwards
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Connor Bedard -- Sam Reinhart -- Carter Verhaeghe
You have to imagine Canada would want Bedard on this team, not only because he is a rising star for a popular franchise, but also because it would be an opportunity to give him some international experience in advance of the 2026 Olympics.
Reinhart and Verhaeghe is another opportunity to unite two players with a recent track record -- and successful track record -- of playing alongside one another.
Reinhart as a fourth-line center just illustrates how deep this roster could be down the middle, while Verhaeghe has become a 35-40 goal scorer that also has a knack for scoring big goals in clutch moments.
Over the previous three seasons, they have spent more than 700 minutes together during 5-on-5 play, outscoring teams by a 31-21 margin with a 57 percent expected goals share.
First-Pairing Defense
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Cale Makar - Devon Toews
Again, if you have a chance to keep teammates together on a team like this there is a lot of sense in trying to do so. Especially on defense where communication is so important, and when they are both capable of playing top-minutes.
Makar and Toews have been one of the league's most dominant defensive duos over the past three years, outscoring teams by a 153-94 margin together.
Makar is arguably the best defenseman in the league.
Toews is tremendous in transition and a strong all-around player. Individually both are worthy of being on this roster. As long as they are there is no reason not to keep them together.
Second-Pairing Defense
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Evan Bouchard - Dougie Hamilton
Bouchard has to be on the roster because he is on the shortlist of best offensive defensemen in the NHL and seems built to play for a team like this in a tournament like this. He averaged a point per game in his breakout season during the 2023-24 season and had one of the best single-season playoff runs for a defender when the Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Final.
Hamilton, meanwhile, is one of the most underrated players at his position for this era. There always seems to be some weird knock against him despite his consistently great play.
The only thing that has limited him the past couple of years has been injuries.
But if he is healthy there are few defenders in the NHL that offer a better combination of possession-driving, offense, transition and defensive play.
Third-Pairing Defense
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Noah Dobson -- Joshua Morrissey
This pairing would have a chance to make a serious impact offensively, with both of them being 70-point players in the NHL. On most international teams this would probably be good enough to be a first pairing, and certainly a second-pairing, but on this Canadian roster it might only be good enough for the third pair.
They were seventh and eighth respectively among defensemen scoring during the 2023-24 season (among all NHL players). Dobson's numbers are especially impressive given how much the New York Islanders tend to struggle to score goals.
Put him onto a roster that is loaded with All-Star talent, and then let him feast in offensive zone situations, and he could be a major impact player.
Goalies
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Sam Montembeault -- Adin Hill -- Jordan Binnington
This is where the Canadian team is going to have a problem, because the depth just simply is not here.
Neither are the high-level players that the other countries might have to use at the most important position.
Hill and Binnington would be intriguing picks because both have Stanley Cup rings and big-game experience. Binnington has been inconsistent throughout his career, and he always seems to be on the verge of having a meltdown, but he is coming off a strong season for the Blues and if he can repeat that he might play his way onto this roster.
Montembeault is the one that might be a little bit of a surprise, but given the lack of quality goalie depth, he might be an intriguing option. He has played well in Montreal the past two years when you take into account the lack of talent around him, especially on defense, and if he can take a step forward this season he might impress enough to earn a spot.
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