4 Nations Face-Off Primer: Everything you need to know

The 4 Nations Face-Off marks the return of NHL players to best-on-best competition. And while this is a short event (just five game days!) with only four teams and no playoff rounds, this 2025 tournament will set the table for next year’s Olympics and a regular rotation of World Cups two years later.

While the 4 Nations is a different format than we’re used to seeing for these tournaments, it loosely continues a thread of league international events that began with the Canada Cup, which ran in 1976, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991. That tournament was then renamed the World Cup in 1996, which also ran in 2004 and 2016 — the last time we had a best-on-best event.

The 2016 World Cup, we remind you, had a ‘Team Europe’ that included all overseas players whose countries weren’t represented in the event, and a Team North America where Canadian and American players 23 years old and younger wore the same jersey. Two of the leaders on that team — Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid — will now be competing against each other.

Canada is the ‘defending’ champion from that event and, in fact, has won six of these eight events since the original Canada Cup. The United States was the last non-Canadian entry to win, taking the 1996 World Cup in a best-of-three series against their northern neighbours.

While this tournament doesn’t offer the full spread of competitive hockey countries, and only includes players with an NHL contract, it does bring together some generations.

Canadian fans have longed to see Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid suiting up for the same team, and we may as well throw Nathan MacKinnon into that mix — he played for the North American team with McDavid back in 2016 and is now a linemate of fellow Cole Harbour, N.S., native Crosby.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will run for nine days total and will conclude with a one-game championship before players return to their NHL teams two weeks away from the trade deadline and with the final leg of the playoff race ahead.

In the meantime, we get you set for some best-on-best international action with our primer, which goes over lines, rules, storylines and more.

LINES, PAIRS AND INJURY REPLACEMENTS

CANADA
Head coach: Jon Cooper
Assistant coaches: Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet, Misha Donskov

Sam Reinhart – Connor McDavid – Mitch Marner
Sidney Crosby – Nathan MacKinnon – Mark Stone
Brad Marchand – Brayden Point – Seth Jarvis
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Travis Konecny

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey – Colton Parayko
Shea Theodore – Drew Doughty

Extras: Sam Bennett, Travis Sanheim

Jordan Binnington
Adin Hill
Sam Montembeault

• Travis Konecny missed Monday’s practice due to illness but returned Tuesday and took Sam Bennett’s spot in the lineup. Bennett is the expected scratch for Game 1, but we’ll see how a result could change tactics, or if Canada will just want Bennett’s sandpaper against the Americans.

• Canada’s top power-play unit will include McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby, with Reinhart and Cale Makar. Marner, Point and Stone occupy spots on the second power-play unit with Konecny and Shea Theodore.

• All eyes were on Crosby, who missed Pittsburgh’s last two games before the break. He was on the ice with Canada on Monday and said he’d be good to go for Wednesday’s opener against Sweden.

• The net is Jordan Binnington’s to run with as he’ll start the opener against Sweden. “I don’t see it being a rotation,” head coach Jon Cooper said.

Since the calendar flip to 2025, Binnington has the best save percentage of Canada’s three goalies at .897, the most wins with five (5-5-1) and recorded the only shutout. None of the netminders have been particularly outstanding, but the 2019 Cup winner gets the nod.

• Injury replacement: Well before the event, Alex Pietrangelo announced he’d take the time during 4 Nations to rest up for Vegas’s stretch run instead of representing Canada. He didn’t miss any NHL action. Subbing in for Pietrangelo is Drew Doughty, who has been a speculative replacement ever since he was left off the team. When the roster was initially announced in December, Doughty was on the sidelines with a broken ankle suffered in a pre-season game. He only recently returned to action, appearing in six games for the Kings with one assist and a minus-1 rating.

“It meant the world to me,” Doughty said about getting the late call to join Canada. “Always want to play for Canada, always love honouring the country, but didn’t know if I’d have the chance or not. Worked my (butt) off in the summer to hopefully try to make it, got hurt for half the season and then worked my way back to hopefully get on. When I got that call I was on the team it was probably the best day I’ve had in a lot of months.”

UNITED STATES
Head coach: Mike Sullivan
Assistant coaches: John Hynes, John Tortorella, David Quinn

Kyle Connor – Jack Eichel – Matthew Tkachuk
Jake Guentzel – Auston Matthews – Jack Hughes
Brady Tkachuk – J.T. Miller – Matthew Boldy
Brock Nelson – Vincent Trocheck – Dylan Larkin

Jaccob Slavin – Adam Fox
Zach Werenski – Charlie McAvoy
Noah Hanifin – Brock Faber

Extras: Chris Kreider, Jake Sanderson

Connor Hellebuyck
Jake Oettinger
Jeremy Swayman

• How about this top power-play unit for the Americans? Jack Hughes, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Adam Fox.

• Head coach Mike Sullivan hasn’t named a starter yet, but it would be shocking to not go with Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy favourite and backstopper of the NHL’s best team.

• Injury replacement: It was a tough, but important, call for defenceman Quinn Hughes to make — go to the 4 Nations and try to work his way into the lineup after missing Vancouver’s last four, or rest up and prepare for the stretch run. Speaking to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, agent Pat Brisson said Hughes felt a responsibility as Canucks captain to make sure he did the best thing for his NHL team. Quinn’s absence means we won’t get to have the two older Hughes brothers together for the Americans. Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson comes in to replace Quinn Hughes.

SWEDEN
Head coach: Sam Hallam
Assistant coaches: Stefan Klockare, Nicklas Rahm, Daniel Alfredsson

Filip Forsberg – Elias Pettersson – Adrian Kempe
Rickard Rakell – Mika Zibanejad – William Nylander
Jesper Bratt – Joel Eriksson Ek – Lucas Raymond
Viktor Arvidsson – Elias Lindholm – Gustav Nyquist

Victor Hedman – Jonas Brodin
Gustav Forsling – Rasmus Dahlin
Mattias Ekholm – Erik Karlsson

Extras: Rasmus Andersson, Leo Carlsson

Filip Gustavsson
Linus Ullmark
Samuel Ersson

• If defence wins championships the Swedes start in a good spot, with the most experienced blue line in the tournament. Two of their defencemen (Hedman and Karlsson) have played over 1,000 NHL games while another two (Ekholm and Brodin) are less than 200 games away from the milestone.

• It’s not yet clear who Sweden’s Game 1 starter will be. Coach Sam Hallam says the team has decided who will play but didn’t tip his hand to the media. The top job is likely between Filip Gustavsson (22-11-3, .915 SV%, 2.63 GAA) and Linus Ullmark (24-12-9, .915 SV%, 2.49 GAA). The latter won the Vezina Trophy two years ago but has missed a bunch of time due to injury this season. He did return to action for Ottawa’s last two games before the break.

• Injury replacements: Week-to-week with a lower-body injury since late January, William Karlsson held out hope that he would still be able to play in the 4 Nations, but he wasn’t able to return to the ice in time. In his place comes Rickard Rakell, who’s outscoring Karlsson with 25 goals and 48 points in 56 games. It’s one of the best seasons Rakell has ever had, playing next to Sidney Crosby.

Projected starter Jacob Markstrom also had to pull out of the tournament with an MCL sprain from a run-in with Boston’s Justin Brazeau. Philadelphia’s Samuel Ersson replaced Markstrom and will likely run as Sweden’s third-stringer.

FINLAND
Head coach: Antti Pennanen
Assistant coaches: Tuomo Ruutu, Mikko Manner

Artturi Lehkonen – Aleksander Barkov – Mikko Rantanen
Roope Hintz – Sebastian Aho – Patrik Laine
Teuvo Teravainen – Erik Haula – Joel Armia
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Mikael Granlund

Niko Mikkola – Esa Lindell
Juuso Valimaki – Olli Maatta
Urho Vaakanainen – Nikolas Matinpalo

Extras: Kaapo Kakko, Henri Jokiharju

Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

• With so many replacements and so much inexperience on the back end, Finland’s defensive pairs were the most difficult to figure out so far and may yet change before their opener on Thursday.

• Finland had to make the most injury replacements for this tournament and there were some questions about a few other players. While the three other teams practised in full with lines on Monday, Finland’s first skate was optional before Tuesday’s full one.

Mikko Rantanen missed Carolina’s last game before the break, but he was at Finland’s practice in Montreal and said he’d be ready to go for their first game. Since being traded to the Hurricanes, Rantanen has one goal and two points in six games and it doesn’t look like he’ll share a line with new Carolina teammate Sebastian Aho.

• Injury replacements: The most banged-up roster in the tournament, the Finns have had to make several changes and had a few quality defencemen pull out. The most significant loss was Miro Heiskanen, who suffered a knee injury when Mark Stone fell awkwardly into him in late January. Heiskanen had to have knee surgery and is month-to-month — the Stars hope he’ll be able to return for the playoffs.

Meantime, trade candidate Rasmus Ristolainen also missed Philadelphia’s last game before the break and was forced to pull out of the event late. And Jani Hakanpaa, who has only played two games in November for the Maple Leafs, pulled out of the event in February. Despite returning to some skates with his NHL teammates, Hakanapaa was not game-ready, didn’t go on their pre-break western road trip and has an uncertain timeline for his return.

Replacing these three are Nikolas Matinpalo, Urho Vaakanainen and Henri Jokiharju.

NHL SALARY CAP HITS AND TEAMS REPRESENTED

No, none of the 4 Nations teams would fit under the NHL’s salary cap. Finland has $15 million not playing on defence alone. Heck, Canada’s and Team USA’s forward groups are well over the salary cap.

Here’s a positional and overall look at what the combined cap hits are on the four rosters. Cap numbers come via PuckPedia.

As an NHL event, all players competing are under contract to a team in the league this season.

• The Florida Panthers are the most represented team at the 4 Nations Face-Off with eight total players competing. Two are on Canada, four on Team Finland and one each on Teams USA and Sweden.

• The New York Rangers are the next most represented team with six players competing, followed by the Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights with five each.

• Two NHL teams have no player representation at all: The worst team in the league by points percentage (San Jose), and the best team in the league by points percentage (Washington).

• Anaheim, Calgary, Chicago, Columbus, NY Islanders and Seattle are all represented by one player.

• Colorado, Tampa Bay and Vegas have the most Canadian players in the tournament, with three each. St. Louis, Philadelphia and Florida each have two.

• Florida’s four Finnish players make them the most represented team in that nation, followed by Dallas with three.

• Minnesota has the most Swedish players coming from their roster with three. Edmonton, Nashville and Pittsburgh each have two.

• The New York Rangers have the most Americans at the event with four players coming from their roster. Vegas, Ottawa, Minnesota and Boston each have two.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT AND SCHEDULE

A great question came up on the 32 Thoughts Podcast this week, asking if anything that results in a suspension from this tournament would carry over to the NHL season.

“The NHL is treating the 4 Nations as its own entity,” Elliotte Friedman answered. “Any discipline prior does not affect the player’s ability to participate and any disciplinary case that occurs during the tournament only has tournament repercussions. It will not go back into the NHL season when it resumes after.”

The nine-day NHL/NHLPA tournament includes five game days and consists of a round robin followed by a one-game championship. There is no game for third place.

So, each team is guaranteed three games, with the top two advancing to the winner-takes-all final on Feb. 20. Though this is an NHL event, the standings point system is not the same as the league’s regular season.

For the 4 Nations Face-Off, teams will receive three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in overtime or a shootout, one point for a loss in overtime or a shootout and zero points for a loss in regulation.

The games themselves will be played with NHL rules, with one exception: Overtime will consist of a 10-minute three-on-three period instead of five minutes for the round-robin games, before a shootout.

The championship game will not be decided by the shootout, however. If the final goes into extra time, it will be 20-minute, sudden-death periods until a winner is decided.

And what if there’s a tie in the standings between two or three teams?

In the case of a two-team tie (for second and third), it will be decided simply by the head-to-head result between the two.

But if there is a three-way tie to break, the procedure will be as follows, according to the NHL:

• STEP 1: Total Points
• STEP 2: Regulation Wins (total of regulation wins only)
• STEP 3: ROW (total of regulation and OT wins, excluding shootout wins)
• STEP 4: Goal Differential (total goals for minus total goals against, taken from all games played)
• STEP 5: Total Goals Scored (total goals for from all games played)

The first two games for each team will be played in Montreal, while the final round-robin games and the championship will be played in Boston. All games can be seen on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

Feb. 12: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (Montreal)
Feb. 13: U.S. vs. Finland, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (Montreal)
Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (Montreal)
Feb. 15: Canada vs. U.S., 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (Montreal)
Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (Boston)
Feb. 17: Sweden vs. U.S., 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (Boston)
Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (Boston)

TOP STORYLINES

Will Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby playing together lead to…

When the Avalanche traded out Rantanen, the first thought many had was: Could they bring in Crosby?

The attraction is obvious. Crosby and MacKinnon skate together in the summers, have done commercials together, and are both natives of Cole Harbour, N.S. The Penguins are in a tailspin, likely years away from contending again, a window that may not open before 37-year-old Crosby retires. The Avalanche, meantime, are still very much a Stanley Cup contender. If Crosby were to waive his no-move clause to leave Pittsburgh for anywhere, Colorado makes comfortable sense for a number of reasons.

Crosby has said he’s not planning on leaving Pittsburgh and, for now at least, the speculation seems to be misplaced. He and MacKinnon have been skating on a line together for Canada the past two days, so what if the duo dominates, one wins tournament MVP and Canada claims gold? Any chance No. 87 could reconsider?

The biggest surprise of Canada’s lines so far is that fellow Nova Scotian, Marchand, has not joined them as the third member of the line.

Canucks grudge match… in Boston?

The soap opera start to Vancouver’s season festered into a situation where there was no good solution to resolve a rift between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller. The two star centres for a division-winning team a year ago weren’t able to co-exist going forward, and as the Canucks were well below expectation into February, the chapter closed with Miller’s trade to New York.

It’ll be a bit of theatre when the Canucks play in New York on a Saturday night in March, but first, Pettersson and Miller will run into each other again at the 4 Nations.

Sweden and the USA will meet in their final round-robin game on Monday, and a perfect record or trip to the final might be on the line by then. Will these two share the ice together? Have a physical run-in?

How perfect that Boston will be the host of some potential Canucks beef.

How will NHL teammates face each other as rivals?

There are some good ones here. American Matthew Tkachuk versus Canadian Sam Bennett (and Sam Reinhart)? Some hard-nosed players who know how to be physical and get under their opponents’ skin, these NHL teammates could come face-to-face in a heated Saturday night game in Montreal.

In the same game, what about American Charlie McAvoy and Canadian Brad Marchand? McAvoy is one of the more physical NHL defencemen out there, sometimes toeing the line with controversy, while Marchand knows what buttons to push on players he doesn’t hang around every day. What happens when these two cross paths?

Those are just a couple of examples that have perhaps the best chance to flare up, but there are many teammates who will face each other as opponents. Mitch Marner versus Auston Matthews? Adrian Kempe versus Drew Doughty?

Will we see any NHL trades during the tournament?

Five players competing in the 4 Nations have already been traded during this NHL season, and there are a number of other trade candidates here.

Though things have quieted down somewhat around Elias Pettersson — so much so he was taken off Nick Kypreos’ most recent trade board — the Canucks centre is still not out of the woods. The odds he’ll be traded during this event aren’t great, however.

Canadians, and pending UFAs, Bennett and Marchand did appear on Kyper’s list. Colton Parayko was a bit of an honourable mention as Blues GM Doug Armstrong considers big changes and looks to offload some money from his blue line. We should also mention that Toronto’s Mitch Marner is a pending UFA, though there’s no indication yet that he’s a real trade candidate.

Three Finnish players have already been traded this season and another, Joel Armia, has the potential to be moved.

On Sweden, Erik Karlsson made it to Kyper’s trade board and a strong showing on a skilled Swedish team may make potential suitors re-examine his fit. Rickard Rakell, another Penguin, is having a terrific season and since there’s still term on his contract, he’s another trade candidate to watch as Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas seeks to infuse his organization with futures.

On Team USA, Miller was just recently traded and seems to have found new life just in time to represent his country. Meantime, pending UFA Brock Nelson of the Islanders has been another mainstay on Kyper’s trade board and the 4 Nations is something of a showcase of how he can compete and produce in high-impact games.

There is no trade or roster freeze during the 4 Nations like the one the NHL has for over the holiday season. GMs can still do business so anyone — whether they’re competing at this tournament or resting on a beach somewhere in the world — can still get moved over these two weeks.

Which individuals and teams will step up and set the tone/expectation for the Olympics next year?

As great as it is to have this tournament re-introducing the best-on-best setup for NHL players, the 4 Nations really is a stepping stone to next year’s Olympics.

Since that tournament is just one year away, we figure there will be plenty of carryover, but some ‘depth’ players in these lineups will look to cement their place on an Olympic roster.

In focus for the Canadians will be the netminders, the team’s weakness on paper, as several others left off the team have better save percentages than any of the three they brought. Will Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington or even Sam Montembeault be given a chance to run with? Or will the position hold the team back and leave the country re-examining other options?