United States final projected roster for 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 about three months away, but the full rosters for each nation will be announced Dec. 4. The rosters for Finland and Sweden will be announced during a live show produced by NHL Network and made available globally. ESPN will also announce the remaining players representing Finland and Sweden during the 2 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter. At 6:30 p.m. ET, the balance of rosters for Canada and the United States will be announced during live pre-game shows on Sportsnet and TNT leading into doubleheaders on each network.

Before that happens, NHL.com wanted to take an updated look at what each roster 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 staff writers Amalie Benjamin, Mike G. Morreale and Dan Rosen unveiled their original United States roster in February, an updated one in July and one last month. With the official rosters being announced Dec. 4, Benjamin, Morreale and Rosen take a final shot at it now with some changes.

Six players (marked by an asterisk) were named to the roster in June by their hockey federations.

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

Forwards (13)

Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild

Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens

Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets

Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights*

Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning

Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils

Clayton Keller, Utah Hockey Club

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs*

J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks

Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars

Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres

Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers*

There has been one change in our thinking for the U.S. forwards in the past month. Boldy made it in this time around, replacing Dylan Larkin, who was on the roster when we did this exercise in October. Boldy has been a big part of the Minnesota Wild's strong first half. He gets to the net. He scores goals. He's important on the power play. He's responsible defensively. The U.S. roster already had Matthews, Eichel, Jack Hughes, Thompson and Miller as options to play center, so Boldy extends the depth on the wing. The only hiccup here is that this group of U.S. forwards is particularly left-handed heavy. The only righties on this roster are Eichel, Caufield and Thompson. Miller is a wild card, of course. He is on an indefinite leave of absence from the Vancouver Canucks for personal reasons. It's unclear how that could impact his status for the final U.S. roster. – Rosen

Defensemen (7)

Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild

Adam Fox, New York Rangers*

Noah Hanifin, Calgary Flames

Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks*

Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins*

Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes

Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets

Hanifin, who just missed the cut in our last projection, gets the nod over John Carlson (Washington Capitals) this time after the latter was named on just two of three ballots. Neal Pionk (Winnipeg Jets) also received a vote but not enough to earn a spot on our roster. Slavin, 30, the veteran of our group, is consistently solid while averaging over 21 minutes a game with the Hurricanes. The seven projected defensemen bring a team-first mentality with an understanding that shot blocking and defending the zone are as important as generating and sustaining offense. Puck possession and a smooth transition are paramount against many of the finest players in the world and this group would certainly be up to the challenge. Faber, 22, who finished second in the voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year behind Connor Bedard last season, offers poise and great work ethic as the youngest player on our defense. We expect each of the players to fill in at their natural positions; there are four left-handers (Hughes, Slavin, Werenski, Hanifin) and three right-handed shots (Faber, Fox, McAvoy). Each is capable of timely plays and heavy minutes. McAvoy, Fox, Slavin and Faber offer significant time spent on the penalty kill and Hughes, McAvoy, Fox and Faber are each capable of quarterbacking a power play. Hanifin has performed well and earned equal time on the power play and penalty kill for the Golden Knights this season. -- Morreale

Goalies (3)

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

The top two are tight, and arguably interchangeable with the way they've played this season. Hellebuyck is the likely favorite for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie to this point, which is why he received all three first-place votes. But Oettinger has been right there with him, which is why he got all three second-place votes. Swayman remains the favorite to be the United States' third goalie, but it's closer now with his struggles and the rise of Anthony Stolarz of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who received one third-place vote. Swayman got the other two, which is why he's third, but Stolarz is certainly giving U.S. general manager Bill Guerin and coach Mike Sullivan a lot to consider. -- Rosen