TAMPERE, Finland -- Patrik Laine remains in contention for a spot with Team Finland for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, according to general manager Jere Lehtinen.
The Montreal Canadiens forward has yet to play this season because of a knee injury sustained during a preseason game Sept. 28. He was expected to miss 2-3 months.
The tournament, with rosters made up exclusively of NHL players, takes place in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20. The United States, Canada and Sweden join Finland in the field. The 23-player rosters for each team will be announced in early December. It’s unlikely Laine will see game action by the roster deadline, but that does not concern Lehtinen.
“At this point, there is another month and we’ll see where we are at, for everybody,” Lehtinen told NHL.com during the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal. “It’s about health and how the players look and how they are playing. When it is time, then we’ll know. Right now, we haven’t made any decisions.”
Laine is an interesting case. He is among the most talented players in the League and could add scoring punch to Team Finland. He has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 NHL regular-season games with the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets and 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Winnipeg.
The 26-year-old was traded, along with a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, to Montreal by Columbus for defenseman Jordan Harris on Aug. 19.
He has not played a regular-season game since Dec. 14, 2023, when he fractured his clavicle against the Toronto Maple Leafs while with the Blue Jackets. The next month, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, saying in an Instagram post he needed to prioritize his mental health and well-being so he could perform at his best.
“It’s too bad for him, of course, with how the last season went, and it would have been nice to see how he would have played this season in Montreal,” Lehtinen said. “Hopefully he comes back soon. Everybody wants to see him.”
Laine has been a staple of Team Finland since his junior days.
He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2015 IIHF World Under-18 team when Finland took home the silver medal. He helped Finland win the gold medal at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he had 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in seven games. Laine, who was 18 at the time, also competed in the IIHF World Championship that season, the youngest Finn to play at the Worlds. He also played in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
In 13 games at the senior level with the national team, Laine has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 13 games.
Selected by the Jets with the No. 2 pick at the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine began his NHL career with four straight seasons of at least 28 goals, including 44 for Winnipeg in 2017-18.
It’s hard to write off that kind of production, so Lehtinen won’t until the deadline comes.
“Let’s wait a month and we’ll see,” he said.
Laine isn’t the only decision Lehtinen and his staff have to make.
Florda Panthers center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars, who played here at the Global Series, already have been named to the team, along with forwards Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes and Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, and goalie Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators. Fifteen skaters and two goalies still need to be named to the roster.
Lehtinen says the pace has picked up in the past few weeks and it was nice to see potential candidates play in-person during the two Global Series games. Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and defenseman Niko Mikkola are strong candidates, as is Stars forward Roope Hintz.
“With these guys here, a couple of them are already in the team, but everybody knows how good the rest of the players on these two teams are, so we’ll see when we pick the team,” he said. “But it’s a no-brainer that they are pretty close to making the team.”
The tournament is hurtling toward the management staff, consuming more and more time and mental bandwidth.
But Lehtinen, who played in the Olympics five times and 16 international tournaments during his 20-year playing career, embraces it. A forward during his playing days, the 51-year-old had 514 points (243 goals, 271 assists) in 875 regular-season NHL games from 1995-2010 and won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999. He had 49 points (27 goals, 22 assists) in 108 playoff games.
He’s always loved a challenge.
“Time is flying,” he said. “Maybe not pressure, but we know it’s coming pretty quick. It’s another month and we have to pick the team. At the same time, it’s a little pressure, but it’s fun pressure and a fun time too.
“It’s hard decisions, but at the same time, because you have good players, it’s good too.”
The Finns may have as skilled a team as they’ve had in a long time, and they have an elite goalie in Saros.
However, Lehtinen says it’s chemistry and familiarity that carries the day for Finland. They have the smallest pool of players from which to pick, so most have played together in multiple tournaments.
“We have good players, but at the same time when you look at the other countries and what they can get for players, it’s scary,” Lehtinen said. “As a team, we look at what we have done before, and we have a chance. But at the same time, on paper we have the top players, but the other teams have a little bit more when you look at it on paper and see their names.
“A lot of our players played together at some point. The national team, the national junior team, the NHL teams, there is good connections. We are usually relying on that. When they come to the national team, they really embrace it and respect it and they have fun there. I think it’s a big part to have fun.”
