Canada projected roster for 2025 4 Nations Face-Off

The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, with teams of NHL players from Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States competing in a round-robin tournament. This will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.

The international tournament is 100 days from Monday, with tickets for each site on sale via ticketmaster.com. With the NHL season off and running, NHL.com wanted to take an updated look at what the rosters for each country could look like, using a panel of three staff writers and editors to compile a list of 23 players (20 skaters, three goalies) for each team.

NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price, staff writer Derek Van Diest and LNH.com staff writer Nicolas Ducharme unveiled their original Canada roster in February and an updated one in July. With the official rosters being announced in about a month, Ducharme, Price and Van Diest take another shot at it now with some changes. Also, six players (marked by an asterisk) were named to the roster last month.

Here is the Canada projected roster (listed alphabetically by position):

Forwards (13)

Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins*
Alexis Lafreniere, New York Rangers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche*
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins*
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers*
Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning*
Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers
Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
Steven Stamkos, Nashville Predators
Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights

We have two changes to this forward group from July, and it’s safe to say they are based on the first month of the regular season. Scheifele, who has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) through the Jets’ first 12 games, is one of the new additions to the roster. The other is Stone, who has stormed out of the gate with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 12 games. They replace Zach Hyman, who was on the first two roster projections but has just four points (two goals, two assists) in his first 12 games with the Edmonton Oilers, and Robert Thomas, who has one goal in seven games for the Blues and is out at least five more weeks with a broken ankle. Hyman and Lafreniere finished tied in points for the final spot, but the Rangers forward, who has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 11 games, appeared on all three ballots, while Price left Hyman off his. Stone and Schiefele add some much-needed grit to this talented and experience group. Lafreniere, 23, and Bedard, 19, are the only players on the roster who are not at least 27 years old. Let’s face it, this forward group is stacked, no matter who fills out the final two spots. Six of the forwards (Bedard, Crosby, MacKinnon, McDavid, Lafreniere and Stamkos) are former No. 1 picks in the NHL Draft, seven (Crosby, MacKinnon, Marchand, Point, Reinhart, Stamkos and Stone) are Stanley Cup champions and three (Crosby, MacKinnon and McDavid) are former Hart Trophy winners as NHL MVP. Three (Crosby, Marchand and Stamkos) won gold for Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, while MacKinnon, McDavid and Schiefele played for Team North America at the World Cup. -- Price

Defensemen (7)

Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers
Noah Dobson, New York Islanders
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche*
Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas Golden Knights
Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights
Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche

In such a short competition, it's important for players to quickly find chemistry with each other, which is why Canada will try to use pairs of defensemen already playing together, starting with Makar. The 2022 Norris Trophy winner as the League’s top blueliner was an obvious pick for the team, where he will find his current defense partner with the Avalanche, Toews. The two have been joined at the hip for five seasons and have been one of the most effective duos in the NHL -- Makar being the most productive defenseman in the League since 2020-21, while Toews is 13th. Makar is also the logical choice to be at the point on the first wave of the power play. As for the second unit, there will be plenty of options with Dobson, Morrissey, Bouchard and Theodore being named on Canada’s roster. At 5-on-5, Theodore will get to play with Pietrangelo, his current partner with the Golden Knights, providing some more stability. Both are new additions to the Canada’s roster. Drew Doughty, who suffered a fractured ankle for the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 25, will not be with the team, nor will Owen Power of the Buffalo Sabres. Each were selected by our panel in July. -- Ducharme

Goalies (3)

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blue
Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens
Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers

Goaltending is the biggest question for Canada heading into the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. Unlike prior seasons when the likes of Carey Price, Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy were available, there isn’t a clear No. 1 Canadian goalie. There are a handful of possible candidates, but the list could alter from week to week leading up to the tournament. For now, we have Binnington as the front-runner. The 31-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ontario, is in his seventh season with St. Louis. He won the Stanley Cup in 2019 as a rookie and has been consistent throughout his career. After Binnington, there are a number of goalies who could fill out the roster. Skinner is only in his third season but was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2023 and backstopped Edmonton to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. Binnington and Skinner were both on our list in July, as was Adin Hill of the Golden Knights. We decided to replace Hill with Montembeault. A native of Becancour, Quebec, he has taken over the starting role in Montreal and has worked his way into the conversation based on his strong play at the end of last season and beginning of this one. -- Van Diest