Hockey fans haven’t seen a best-on-best tournament, of any form, since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. That was an eight-team tournament with Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czechia, Team Europe and Team North America.

Canada and USA had players aged 24 and older, while Team North American was comprised of Canadian and American players 23 years of age and younger. Team Europe consisted of players from European Nations not already represented like Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

The naysayers complained about the European and North American teams, but they were included so the NHL could showcase more of its players. It made sense. And as for it reducing the overall talent of Canada and USA, I think that was grossly overblown, at least for Canada. Connor McDavid had just finished his rookie season. He might have made it, but Sidney Crosby didn’t make the 2006 Olympic team in his rookie season.

The 2016 World Cup was so long ago that Nathan MacKinnon likely wouldn’t have made team Canada. He had just finished his third NHL season with 52 points for the Avalanche. He scored 53 points in 2016-17, the year after the World Cup.

Auston Matthews had yet to play an NHL game when he made the North American squad. He, along with Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel and JT Miller, very likely would have made team USA, because, unlike Canada, that team wasn’t very good offensively. The USA went 0-3 in the tournament scoring only five goals. Their roster was quite thin up front.

Canada won the tournament defeating Team Europe by scores of 3-1 and 2-1 in the best-of-three final.

The NHL 4 Nations Face-off will run February 12th to 20th with four teams— Canada, United States, Finland and Sweden — battling for the title. I think most will agree it would be better to have a six-team tournament, but once the tournament starts, I’ll still be excited to see these four teams compete.

The schedule will be as follows: **All times are MT**

Today we will focus on the forward options for the four teams.
Players in bold have already been named to their team, players in Blue are who I have as locks to make the team.

 Mikael Granlund – Aleksander Barkov – Mikko Rantanen
Sebastian Aho – Roope Hintz – Teuvo Teravainen
Matias Maccelli – Anton Lundell – Artturi Lehkonen

I think those nine forwards will sure be on the team. The remaining forwards spots will be filled by the likes of Kaapo Kakko, Eetu Luostarinen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Eeli Tolvanen, Erik Haula and Patrik Laine.

Laine is the wildcard as he is still in the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program. If he is healthy and playing, I’d assume he will make the team, but for now he’s not a lock. Luostarinen just won a Stanley Cup with Florida and was a solid bottom-six forward. Kakko has lots of potential, and I’d be quite surprised if he isn’t on the team.

Finland had 20 forwards play 40+ NHL games last season and 14 of them had 25+ points. They won’t wow you will skill top to bottom, but they always perform well as a group in tournaments.

Filip Forsberg – Elias Pettersson – William Nylander
Jesper Bratt – Mika Zibanejad – Adrian Kempe
Gustav Nyquist – William Karlsson – Lucas Raymond
Elias Lindholm – Eriksson Ek – Mikael Backlund

They have some young players who could push for jobs. William Eklund had 45 points in his first NHL season last year with San Jose. Fabian Zetterlund scored 24 goals and 44 points with the Sharks. Young Leo Carlsson had 29 points in 55 games and Alexander Holtz scored 16 goals in New Jersey.

Sweden had 12 forwards with 23+ goals last season and Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund weren’t part of that group. They have more offensive depth than Finland. They had 10 forwards with 60+ points.

Viktor Arvidsson only played 18 games last season for LA, but he scored 15 points. He could easily earn a spot on the roster, especially when he will be playing alongside Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton this season.

Sweden’s forwards should be solid.

Matthew Tkachuk – Auston Matthews – Jason Robertson
Jake Guentzel – Jack Eichel – Clayton Keller
Jack Hughes – JT Miller – Patrick Kane
Kyle Connor – Brock Nelson – Brock Boeser
Brady Tkachuk – Vincent Trocheck – Dylan Larkin

USA will be much better than they were in the 2016 World Cup. They had 32 forwards with 50+ points last season and Kane wasn’t in that group as he produced 47 points in 50 games.

I didn’t have Johnny Gaudreau listed among those 15 forwards, after he had a down year, by his standards, with only 12 goals and 60 points, but he’s still very skilled. He will be in the mix as will Chris Kreider, Alex Debrincat, Cole Caufield, Nick Schmaltz, Matt Boldy, Tage Thompson, Charlie Coyle, Trevor Moore and Alex Tuch.

It will be interesting to see how GM Bill Guerin builds his roster. I doubt he will want too many small, skilled forwards. Guys like Caufield, Debrincat and Moore will need to have great starts to the season to stay in the mix, as Hughes, Keller and Kane would be locks to make the team for me. Kane had 47 points in 50 games last season. He is still dynamic, and they will need his veteran experience in big games.

I’m looking forward to the USA/CAN game on February 15th.

Brayden Point – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Sidney Crosby – Nathan MacKinnon – Sam Reinhart
Brad Marchand – Robert Thomas – Mitch Marner
Alexis Lafreniere – Ryan O’Reilly – Steven Stamkos
Brandon Hagel – Mathew Barzal – Jonathon Marchessault

Canada has the most forward depth with 32 forwards scoring 60+ points last season and 45 with 50+ points.

Nick Suzuki, Travis Konecny, Bo Horvat, Seth Jarvis and Jordan Kyrou scored 30 goals last year. Wyatt Johnson scored 32 goals and 65 points with Dallas and plays a very complete game for a 21-year- old. Carter Verhaeghe has the 6th most goals among Canadian players the past two seasons. He’s very smart and has a great ability to score big goals.

One thing I found odd, considering for so long there were more left shot players than righties, is that McDavid and Crosby were the only two lefties among the top-11 scoring Canadian forwards last season. Hagel (75 points), Kadri (75) and Verhaeghe (72) were the only others in the top-16 in points.

It will be interesting to see who plays LW with McDavid. I slotted Point there as he’s very smart and he’s scored the most goals among Canadian skaters (97) the past two seasons scoring 51 and 46.

GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Jon Cooper will have a difficult, but exciting, job deciding on which forwards make the squad. Canada has the best top-end forwards and the most depth. They will be the favourite when the tournament begins. The Wildcard is Connor Bedard.

Is there anyone we overlooked as a possibility to make any of the four teams?

We will look the D-men on Thursday.

It’s time to dust off those clubs and hit the greens for the 7th Annual Oilersnation Golf Tournament presented by Oodle Noodle on August 30th, 2024! An 8am shotgun start at the Mill Woods Golf Club will kick off an unforgettable day of golf, laughs, and camaraderie with your fellow Nation Citizens. Whether you’re a scratch golfer or just out there to hack away and have a good time, this tournament is for everyone. Grab your buddies or sign up as a single, and let’s make this year’s Oilersnation Golf Tournament the best one yet. Don’t miss out – Be there or be square! Visit nationgear.ca to register today. See you on the course!