We’re reaching the end of the first and likely only 4 Nations Face-Off with Canada and the United States squaring off in the Championship Game in Boston on Thursday.

Despite some uncertainty from fans around the validity of this quick mid-season tournament, the 4 Nations Face-Off has delivered some very exciting hockey. Based on what we’ve seen over the past week and a half, what can the NHL do to improve for the World Cup in 2028? And what can Canada do to improve their roster ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Cam Lewis: This was an excellent shake-up from the usual All-Star Game and Skills Competition, which has become mostly stale over the years. There was no doubt that players would care more about wearing their country’s flag than their division’s logo, but another thing about the 4 Nations Face-Off that worked out nicely has been its quickness. Each of these games has had a playoff atmosphere. While an epic two-week Olympic tournament is special every four years, playing that many international games every year or two would bog down the excitement.

Liam Horrobin: The intensity of the event has been magnificent. It was pretty silly of us all to underestimate the care the players would have for this event. The conversation it has brought to an audience that wouldn’t usually care is fantastic to see. This event is more than likely one-and-done but it feels like it set the tone to be one of the most influential sporting events in the modern era.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The intensity is the first thing that comes to mind for me. Seeing how truly bought in the players was really cool. There’s nothing on the line except for pride and bragging rights and yet these guys are playing every game like is a playoff game. It was awesome. The hockey this tournament produced is the best we’ve seen in a decade and I think in 15-20 years, we’re going to look back at this two week stretch as a massive moment for the sport of hockey. The amount of eyeballs it’s put on the league is significant and I think it will help the NHL’s popularity in the USA. I thought the NHL did a great job having the two rivalry games on a Saturday as a doubleheader as well. The jerseys also looked great.

Zach Laing: There’s lots to like about it. I mean… Canada and the US? What more can you say? One thing I wonder about is how much this tournament does for the growth of the game, and if it leads to larger viewership numbers come the playoffs. Saturday’s game came on a night when the NBA season hit the All-Star Break, and it drew a stunning 10.1 million viewers across North America. NBA’s season is back in full swing on Championship night Saturday and I’ll be curious to see how many eyes are on it. That game opened up a lot of people’s eyes to the sport.

Baggedmilk: I’ll be the first to admit that I was not overly excited about the tournament when it was first announced, but that changed in a big way after attending Canada vs. Sweden on Wednesday at the Bell Centre. Not only have I always wanted to watch a game there, but to be able to cheer for the home side in Montreal with that crowd was an experience I’ll never forget. And how was I supposed to pretend that I didn’t care after seeing how engaged the players were? It was impossible. I can’t wait for a true best-on-best when there are more than four teams suiting up.

Cam Lewis: There’s going to have to be more than four teams in order for this event to actually be a World Cup of Hockey. It made sense for the NHL to only use Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off given the situation and quick turnaround, but they should be able to map out a plan to involve eight teams by 2028. Countries like Slovakia and Switzerland might not be able to ice a full roster with active NHL players so the league will likely have to get creative about who’s eligible to suit up. Maintaining the speed and intensity of the 4 Nations while doubling the teams involved will be an interesting challenge for the league.

Liam Horrobin: More teams would obviously be a huge change, and likely that comes with less competitive games, unfortunately. Nevertheless, the event is going to develop over time and help the game grow. Aside from fixing the roster issues that we’ve seen at the 4 Nations, I’d like to see a change in the schedule. On Monday, the United States and Sweden game had meaning to start the day then nothing once the puck was dropped. The NHL obviously wanted the USA in the prime time slot playing in Boston and it was just unfortunate that the game became meaningless in the standings, because on paper that’s a great matchup. At the World Cup, for those final round-robin games, the NHL should make them be played at the same time. It brings more intensity to each matchup. Split the games between the two host cities and let the chaos commence.

Tyler Yaremchuk: They need to expand the rosters. Let each team bring one more defenseman and one more forward so that we don’t run into the same issues that we did with Cale Makar and Charlie McAvoy. Also, even though the tournament is going to be expanded to eight teams, they need to keep Canada and the USA in the same pool. You can’t risk putting on the tournament and not getting a matchup between those two. Other than that, having more teams will mean fewer off days during the tournament which will be good for the hype as well.

Zach Laing: I think better clarity around rosters is going to be important given the dramatics we saw around the Shea Theodore/Cale Makar/Thomas Harley situation, and now what’s gone on with the USA’s injury issues. I’d like to see the rosters get announced closer to the actual tournament date, too. Each NHL team played an average of 25 games before the rosters were announced and an average of 30 after the rosters were announced. Maybe next time around, they announce a preliminary roster in November, then the final roster a month before the tournament start date.

Baggedmilk: I think the rules around practicing and player substitutions are a little bit broken, so I’d like to see the NHL clean that up before the next round. I also think it would be fantastic if the final was a best of three. How jacked up would you be if we had at least two more games of Canada vs. USA before this tournament was done?

Cam Lewis: I think we’re all going to say Zach Hyman, right? A challenge with international competition is having players thrown together from different teams who aren’t necessarily familiar with each other. Some players are able to find quick chemistry with their new teammates at the international level and some aren’t. Connor McDavid didn’t pair well with Sam Reinhart and Mitch Marner even though the trio seemed perfect on paper. If you’ve got a duo like McDavid and Hyman who have chemistry, there’s no sense in leaving the star’s wingman at home.

Liam Horrobin: The clear answer is Zach Hyman, especially since it took almost half the tournament to figure out who is good enough to play with Connor McDavid. The other obvious spot to look at is goaltending. Jordan Binnington hasn’t done anything to guarantee himself a spot on the plane to Italy, and probably shouldn’t have even guaranteed himself a spot on the bench for the final in Boston. Canadian don’t have an elite goaltender in the NHL, right now, so they need to go with the hot hand. Sure, you can take Binnington or Hill for their “experience” but let’s not mess around. Take the goaltender who’s playing the best. Also, I’d like to see Connor Bedard on the team. There’s been a ton of negative press about him recently and this country needs to learn to appreciate how awesome he is.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Zachary Martin Hyman. We spent two games talking about how McDavid’s linemates weren’t working well with him. Well, if you would have brought the guy who’s scored over 100 goals over the last two calendar years playing next to Connor McDavid then we wouldn’t have had that problem. He deserved to be here and I’m still very irritated that he’s not. I’m not on the Evan Bouchard train though. As much as Canada could have used him as a puck mover, they clearly valued a more well-rounded defender and I think leaving Bouchard at home was justified.

Zach Laing: Zach Hyman should’ve been there, and I’d be willing to bet he would’ve had the rosters been announced a month before the tournament as I suggested. Chris Pronger said it best on Twitter the other day: “The transition game in these best-on-best settings is important.” That’s been an area of weakness for them in the tournament, so there’s absolutely a need for more players like Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson and Mackenzie Weegar, all of whom are strong in that area.

Baggedmilk: Everyone is saying Zach Hyman, so I’m going to give some love to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins because literally no one other than me will do that in a setting like this. My real answer, though, is Evan Bouchard. He’ll be ready by then.