Haggerty: Four Nations gearing up for brave new tournament taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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Brad Marchand is one of several Bruins players taking part in the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament kicking off in Montreal this week before next week's playoff showdowns in Boston.

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Haggerty: Four Nations gearing up for brave new tournament

By Joe Haggerty

Feb 12, 2025 • 7:00 am

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It’s going to be uncharted waters for the NHL as they roll out the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament over the next couple of weeks featuring the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland participating in an international tournament in Montreal and Boston.

Games start this week in Montreal, with the semifinals and championship game set to be played at TD Garden next week.

The format has left some hard feelings with superstar players like David Pastrnak as the Czech Republic, among other traditional hockey countries, was left out of the proceedings, and aroused a fair share of curiosity as to just how high the competition level is going to be for a non-Olympic international event featuring NHL players. The bottom line, though, is that the rosters are stacked and star-studded involving four nations that crank out talented hockey players, and the games should be great with everybody in North America hoping it's going to be a USA/Canada final for gold in Boston next week.

“I’m just thrilled to be part of the team,” said Brad Marchand, who started Team Canada practice in a third-line spot with Seth Jarvis and Brayden Point. “I don’t care if I fill water bottles the whole tournament. I’m just happy to be there.”

It will be interesting to see if Marchand eventually gets moved onto a Nova Scotia line with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, but the biggest development right now is that Sid the Kid is healthy and will actually be playing for Canada. And that surely Canada is going to be motivated to show they are still the top dog internationally after USA Hockey has become a dominant force at the junior level over the last few years.

Charlie McAvoy will be playing a pretty significant role on Team USA but said everybody is going to take the right mindset even as all these players are used to being “the guy” on their respective NHL teams.

"None of this is about the individual. We're all honored to be a part of this team. This is a very special group that we have,” said McAvoy. “Whatever your role is and we’re starting to find out what those are going to be. Everybody's gonna buy in and do it to the best of their ability."

Here's a quick snapshot look at the four teams in competition:

Team USA: The Tkachuk brothers lead a contingent that includes Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Zach Werenski, Adam Fox and Jack Hughes, and they clearly have enough talent to be one of the final two teams standing at the end. They don’t have the sheer firepower of the Canadiens and their back end might not be quite as strong as the Swedes, but the Tkachuks will bring a physicality level and compete to the proceedings that could make them a true handful if they play at their top level.

If anything, the Americans might be the most well-rounded group with no real weakness so to speak, though the injury to Quinn Hughes that has knocked him out of the tournament takes some of the razzle-dazzle away from USA’s back end.

Familiar faces: Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman are both on the Team USA roster and should see plenty of action, with McAvoy and Werenski teamed up as a pairing at the first practice. It remains to be seen exactly how much time Swayman will be getting between the pipes as USA is loaded at goalie with Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger rounding out the group.

Chances of winning: Decent. Probably second-best to Canada.

Team Canada: The unquestioned favorite with Connor McDavid getting his first real shot playing for Team Canada at the highest level of international competition, a stage that could really illustrate just how dominant he is amongst his peers. As if we don’t already know that. And then there’s Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Mitch Marner, Brayden Point and the list goes on and on. The one area where they could be vulnerable is in net where Jordan Binnington will get the starting nod out of the gate and could be the best that they have to offer.

They will be fast, skilled and will put up points in bunches with a lethal power play, but can they play the kind of two-way hockey that’s going to win a tournament like this?

Familiar faces: Brad Marchand will be serving as a role player of sorts for Team Canada where he will start as a third liner with Point and Seth Jarvis, but we’ve all seen the Little Ball of Hate rise up in the forward lineup once the games start to heat up. This humble hockey writer hopes that we see Marchand, Crosby and MacKinnon as a line at some point in the tournament, but it remains to be seen when, and if, that is going to happen.

Chances of winning: They are the prohibitive favorite based on the star power of their roster, but the goaltending spot could be their undoing with Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault as their three netminders. Not exactly Bobby Lou and Carey Price. We shall see.

Team Sweden: The back end is probably the strongest part of Sweden’s roster with Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, Matthias Ekholm and Erik Karlsson headlining the bunch, but it is quality from top to bottom. And they have skill and game-breaking with William Nylander, Elias Pettersson and Mika Zibanejad up front, though it doesn’t have quite the same star power as either the Americans or the Canadians.

The thing about the Swedes is that they always play playoff-style hockey in tournaments like this, so you can never count them because they are so darn well-rounded.

Familiar Faces: Elias Lindholm is looking to hit the reset button during the 4 Nations break after a tough opening handful of months for the Boston Bruins, but to his credit, he was playing better leading up to this tournament. He was centering Gustav Nyquist and Victor Arvidsson on Team Sweden’s fourth line at practice and figures to be a role player for the Swedes.

Chances of winning: The Swedes always play well as a unit and will play hard at both ends of the ice behind very capable goaltending with Jakob Markstrom and Linus Ullmark. The question is whether they can knock off USA or Canada and upset the applecart for the final, as they have done numerous times over the years.

Team Finland: Finland doesn’t lack for top players either with Sasha Barkov, Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho that can light the lamp and create offense, and their forward group is pretty solid from top to bottom. The back end, though, is where things will get a little iffy with former Bruins first round pick Urho Vaakanainen a late add to the group due to injuries to stalwarts like Rasmus Ristolainen and Miro Heiskanen. There is no real No. 1 defenseman among this group like there is for each of the other three countries and that could become a problem given the star power across the board where Finland is scraping around for borderline NHL talent on their back end.

The goaltending is not quite as strong as it’s been in the past for Finland, but Juuse Saros gives them a clear-cut quality netminder with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Kevin Lankinen providing good, young depth options as well.

Familiar faces: Vaakanainen was a surprising add given that he’s more of a depth defenseman at the NHL level, but he is coming off a decent season where he had a goal and 14 points in 68 games for the Ducks last season. He is, though, exactly what he appeared to be early in his Bruins development path as a D-man with zero offensive upside that probably never should have been a first-round pick.

Chances of winning: Pretty much zero. Bad timing for the Finns as they got whacked with injuries to their defensemen before the tournament even started.

SCHEDULE

At Bell Centre, Montreal

Wednesday, Feb. 12

Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS

Thursday, Feb. 13

United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS

Saturday, Feb. 15

Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS

United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS

At TD Garden, Boston

Monday, Feb. 17

Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS

Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS

Thursday, Feb. 20

Championship game, 8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS

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