INSTERAD OF HAVING AN ALL-STAR GAME THIS SEASON, THE NHL AND NHLPA ARE STAGING THE 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF, WHICH Will Run from Feb. 12 Through Feb. 20. This is a round-robin tournament that will will feature Four National Teams- – Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States – with NHL Players from Those Nations Filling The Rosters.
The Top Two Teams in the Standings After Round-Robin Play Will Competition In The Championship Game On Feb. 20. The Points System for the Round Robin Will Include Three Points For A Regulation Win, Two Points for A Win In Overtime/Shotout, One Point for the In Overtime/Shootout and Zero Points for A Regulation Loss.
The Overtime Format for Round-Robin Games Is 3-on-3 Sudden Death for 10-MINUTE PERIVERY, Followed by a shotout. In the Championship Game, The Overtime Format is full-sterength Sudden Death in Successive 20-MINUTE PERIODS UNTIL ONE TEAM SCORES.
READ ON FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE EVENT, Beliers Rosters, Team Previews, Betting Picks, Schedule and Broadcast Information from The Opening Round Games All The Way Through the Championship Matchup.
More: Schedule
Predictions for Every Game
Ranking All of The Players
Pick Lineup for Us Team
Roster Grades, Snubs
Everything you need to know
Game schedule
Note: All Times Eastern.
Rosters, Team Previews
Note: Players are listed alphabetically by position. These are not projected lineups.
Canada
Captain: Sidney Crosby
Assistant Captains: Connor McDavid, Cale Makar
Keys to Winning The Gold Medal: Canada you have argued the Most Explosive Crop of Top-Tier Skaters in This Tournament, and that talent you have to be working for them in every journal. Connor McDavid, Nathan Mackinnon, Cale Makar, Sam Reinhart, Brayden Point … and on Down the List. Coach Jon Cooper Can Mix and Match Up Front With Sub of the Best Offensive Threats in The World, and That Will Be Canada’s Weapon at 5-on-5 and the Power Play.
Scoring Should Be Canada’s Superpower, and depending on How Cooper Disperses Ice Time Among The Savvy Veterans-Looking at You, Sidney Crosby-and Those Under-The-Radar Finds-Travis Konecny As A 30-GOAL SCORERR ON THE FOURTH LINE (?) – Canada Will Be a Nightmare to contain when they have the puck. That Alone Could Carry Them to a Championship-Worthy Performance.
X Factor: IT’s The Galtening. How exactly is Canada Going To Fare Between The Pipes? JORDAN BINNINGTON APPEARS TO BE ELIR No. 1 (AT LEAST IN THE EARLY GOINGS) WITH ADIN HILL AS HIS BACKUP. So, don’t you logo Thompson? WHHO HAS THE SECOND-BEST SAVE PERCONTAGE AMONG NHL STARTERS THIS SEASON?
All Credit to Hill and The Fine Season He’s Had in Vegas, But Canada’s Netminding Could Leave Them Feeling Exposed (Sam Montembeault is the Country’s Projected Third-Stringer). And a Swell of Uncertainty – if it were to eat – can Into the Defense, Too. Canada’s depth on the back end was’t This Tournament’s Best To Begin With, and It Took a Hit When Alex Pietrangelo – A Veteran with Championship Experience – Bowed Out Due To Impress. If Goalie Confidenze Becomes Shaky, Does That Also Rattle Canada Defensively? Mental Toughness Will Be an element in All This As Well. – Kristen Shilton
Finland
Captain: Aleksander Barkov
Assistant Captains: Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, Mikko Rantanen
Keys to Winning The Gold Medal: It’s not That Finland Doesn’t Have Players Who Can Score. But a hallmark of Finnish forwards who eats to the nhl is that many of them are consisting two -way players. How Much Does that factor in a tournament in which teams Such as Canada and the United States are expectted to have long chunks of possession?
Review Those Two-Way Contributions from Forwards-Such as Two-Time Selke Trophy Winner Aleksander Barkov, Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen and Roupe Hintz-Could Prov Even More Crucial.
X Factor: How they manage Without Miro Heiskanen. Losing Heiskanen was significant beyond the fact that he’s one of the nhl’s premier defensemen. Heiskanen Can do Everything-From Logging Heavy 5-on-5 Minutes to Running A Power Play To Anchoring A Criminally Kill To Making Life Difficult For An Opposing Top Line.
Figuring Out They The Can Make Up For His Absence Could Be The Difference In Playing in The Championship Game Or Finishing in a Less Lesirable Place. – Ryan S. Clark
Sweden
Captain: Victor Hedman
Assistant Captains: Mattias Ekholm, Erik Karlsson, William Nylander
Keys to Winning The Gold Medal: Sweden’s Back End Should Be its Backbone. LED by the incomparable Victor Hedman, The Swedish Defense Coul Be the Tournament’s Best, and That Bodes Well for Their Prospects. The Swedes’ Blue Line Has A Strong Mix of Talent With Players Who Can Provide Offense – Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin, Specially – With Gustav Forsling, Mattias Ekholm and Jonas Brodin Locking Things Down Behind Them. Add Erik Karlsson’s General Ability To that Mix and No Matter How You Slice It, There’s Subject Special For Sweden To Tap.
If the forwards can complement Strong Defensive Game With Consistnts Scoring, The The Swedes Might Have the Right Recipe for Success.
X Factor: Can Sweden Overcome Potentially Losing Both The Originally Named To Their Roster? And, if the gaaltening situation is impacted, Will Sweden Get The Offensive Performances It Needs To Outlast Countries Like The USA And Canada? PROJECTED STARTER JACOB MARKSTROM WAS ALREADY REPLACED BY SAMUEL ERSSON; Linus Ullmark Has Been Battling Injury for Much of This Season.
That Doesn’t Speak to a Possibly Dominant Showing in the crease. LEAVING THAT ASEIDE Though, Can Sweden Squeeze Enough From their Top-Six Forward Group-With The Likes of William Nylander and Filip Forberg Leading The Way-To Keep Pace With The Aphorementione Juggersouts? It might eats Down to Will Over Thrill for This Swedish Team to Be Victorus. – Shilton
United States
Captain: Auston Matthews
Assistant Captains: Charlie Mcavoy, Matthew Tkachuk
Keys to Winning The Gold Medal: Do they want to play fast? Do they want to be physical? Do they want to Constantly Apply Pressure? Do they want to create Lines that can score? Do They Want Lines That Make Two-Way Play a priority? Or do they want all of the above?
ASKING THIS MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE US SPEAKS TO HOW MANY DIRECRIES THE TACTICS CAN GO, WITH ROSTER THAT IS ARGUBLY THE MOST TALENTED IN THE TOURNAment, TOP TO BOTTOM. The Notion That There Appears to Be Several Identities The Us Could Have Makes This Roster Adaptable To Every Situation. That could supply in their bid to win gold.
X Factor: The Defensive Pairings. Let’s reca. Adam Fox is a Norris Trophy Winner. Charlie Mcavoy and Jaccob Slavin has finished in the top 10 in norris vising on multiple occasions. Zach Werenski and His Point-Per-Game Average Is Factoring Into This Season ‘Norris Discussion. Noah Hanifin’s Athleticism and Length Makes Finding Time and Space A Problem, While Brock Faber Was Already A Legitimate No. 1 Option As A Rookie Last Season. Late Addition Jake Sanderson You have Been a Driving Force in Getting the Senators Back into the Playoff Picture.
And yet? One of Them Will Be The Us’s Seventh Defenseman Up in the Press Box. WHICH COMBINATIONS WOUD MAKE THE MOST SENSE FOR THE US? And can eches pairings help lead the nation to a First-Place Finish in the Build-up to the 2026 Olympics? – Clark
Betting Picks
Canada-Sweden Feb. 12
If there is one Thing we do know about the opening game of the 4 nations face-off, It’s That Sweden Better Stay As Far Away From The Criminal Box As They Can Get. It might be wiser to offer them flowers than to allow connor mcdavid, Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar-Plus Sidney Crosby and Sam Reinhart-to take the Ice Five-on-Four.
With that said, penalties HAPPEN, and This Dream Team Power Play is My First Stop for Progs.
Sam Reinhart Anytime Goal Scorer (+180) is a start. He’ll be Front and Center, Literally, for the Man Advantage for Canada. Additionionally, let’s take the top defenseman at What Honestly Feels Like an Adventageous Payout By Comparison: Cale Makar Anytime Goal Scorer (+450).
Bonus: To Really Spice Things Up, Maybe Reinhart Scores Again. After, a literal Pylon Might Score a Couple for Canada in Front of the net with McDavid, Mackinnon, Crosby and Makar Banking Pucks Off It: Sam Reinhart Player to Score Two-Plus Goals (+1,800). – Sean Allen
If nothing else, The Finnish Defense and Canadian Galtening Certainly Suggest that a Team of All-Star-Caliber Forwards On Both Sides of the Puck Can Drive Scoring to A Total Greater Than 5.5. These Forward Lines are Sotled On Each of these Teams, How can we not go in expecto gOAL-SCORING Showcases?
Not that many of the players involved Will Be the Same, But the Last Four Olympics with Nhlers Had All Four of these Nations Averaging Close To Four Goals Per Game Each. The 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which was Much More Condensed and Nhl-Roster Heavy, had Total of 7.88 Goals per game from Both Sides Across All Games.
These aren’t apples-to-aples comparisons, but when you distill the skill on rosters to the point that sum Fourth Lines Look Like Top Scoring Lines On Sub summ Teams, We Anticipate Lots of Goals.
Give Me The Over On Any Game That Doesn’t Involve Connor Hellebuyck and the United States Team Defense. – Allen
Parlay: +593
Canada @ Sweden – Over 5.5 (-125)
Finland @ Sweden – Over 5.5 (+110)
Canada @ Finland – Over 5.5 (-120)
