Potential Canadiens At The NHL Four Nations Faceoff Tournament

The NHL’s most recent tournament brainchild, the ‘2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off‘, will be hosted by the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins, with games starting on Feb.12, before the final matchup concludes on Feb.20.

And though half of the games will take place in Montreal, as it stands, there’s a distinct possibility Habs fans at the Bell Centre will have few, if any Canadiens players to cheer for among the four countries taking part. NHL.com published projected lineups for the four nations: Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the United States. The only Canadiens player among the 92 listed players is American sniper Cole Caufield.

The good news for those hoping for more Habs representation is that the teams are not yet set, but given the current configuration of the lineup, players on the outside looking in will have a very hard time cracking their country’s roster.

Much to the dismay of autocorrect programs, the Canadiens are decisively Canadian. Of the 22 players listed as probably members of their NHL lineup next season, just eight were born outside of Canada. This means there are good odds the Habs will once again be the NHL team with the most Canadians in their lineup, but it also means they’ll be facing the stiffest competition when it comes to representing their country.

Potential Montreal Canadiens Players On Team Canada

The first name that comes to mind is the team captain, Nick Suzuki. He has emerged as a high-end centre who provides excellent hockey in all three zones, which led to a few analysts listing him on their 2024 Selke Trophy ballot. Suzuki can play on the powerplay, the penalty kill, as well as offensive and defensive situations at 5v5. His versatility makes him a crucial member of the Habs, but it’s only fair to say there’s a rather impressive list of centres ahead of him in Canada’s depth chart, including Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby.

It’s worth pointing out Suzuki requires very little instruction, something tournament coaches absolutely love as it allows their teams to hit the ground running, but it will take a hot start to the 2024-25 season or/and an injury to one of the aforementioned centres before we can consider him a top option for Canada.

As for the goaltending situation, some may balk at the idea that a Stuart Skinner, Jordan Binnington, and Adin Hill trio would not allow for the inclusion of a different goalie, perhaps one named Samuel Montembeault, but they all produced similar or better numbers than the Habs starter last season. On that note, if one of the goalies stumbles out of the blocks, Canada may consider the goaltender that played a crucial part in their World Championship gold medal conquest in 2023.

Montembeault was easily Canada’s best player today.

Full marks to Slovakia for the effort. Hell of a game for them. pic.twitter.com/i5b234jbz9

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 15, 2023

Potential Montreal Canadiens Players On Team USA

The Habs have six players with American roots in the lineup. Caufield, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Cayden Primeau, Christian Dvorak, and Lane Hutson. To ensure he makes the team, Caufield will have to pick up where he left off in 2023-24, scoring important goals on a regular basis when his team needs it most. You’ll note Caufield modified his approach following a mid-season scoring drought. Rather than trying to score with pure talent via his excellent shot, he was a lot more engaged in the dirty areas of the ice, including cleaning up rebounds near the crease. This evolution in his game should help him keep pace with the other American players being considered.

Beyond Caufield, you’d be hard-pressed to suggest Struble, Harris, Primeau, and Dvorak will work their way onto the team, but given that he tends to excel in every situation and has a history of playing elite hockey for Team USA during international tournaments, there’s an outside chance Hutson could sneak his way onto the American roster if he makes the Canadiens out of camp and continues to produce at a point per game pace.

Lane Hutson SEASON!

He steals the puck from fellow Habs prospect Owen Beck to win the game for Team USA. #WolrdJuniors #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/nDPt0srCdm

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023

Potential Montreal Canadiens Players On Team Finland and Team Sweden

Barring a miraculous series of events that would include prospect Adam Engstrom earning a roster spot after his first NHL training camp, Team Sweden will assuredly be Habs-free, as the Canadiens do not have any Swedish players in their lineup. Historically, Montreal’s lineup has featured very few Swedes. Only 20 players who had the potential to represent the Tre Kronor have played for the Canadiens, with Le Petit Viking leading the charge.

As an aside, Patrick Roy and Mario Lemieux were the players who eventually made me permanently fall in love with hockey, but Mats Naslund was the player who really got me hooked in the first place, as the idea of a diminutive European forward playing a dominant role on a top team during a time when size reigned supreme was simply too amazing to ignore. He played the exact same role as Dennis Bergkamp did before I got hooked to European soccer. Bergkamp was the one who made me start paying attention to Arsenal, while Thierry Henry was the one who solidified my lifelong passion for the Gunners, but I digress.

The Canadiens do have one Finnish player in the mix, and Joel Armia does have a history of playing quite well for Finland at the World Championship, but those lineups include non-NHL talent because many of the top Finns are still participating in NHL playoff hockey, whereas the 4 Nations Face-OFF is strictly limited to players on NHL rosters, making the prospect of Armia earning a spot much less likely.

Oliver Kapanen has also featured in several Finnish lineups, serving as the country’s captain at the 2022 World Junior Championship, but like Engstrom, the odds Kapanen would make the lineup out of camp are rather low. More so, the odds he would earn a spot in the Canadiens lineup that would lead to ample scoring opportunities, and thus a chance to outplay some of his fellow NHL countrymen, are even lower.