4 Nations Face-Off: Penguins React to Rosters

At last night’s U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Pittsburgh, a lot of talk swirled around Team USA’s incredible talent pool for the 4 Nations Faceoff, as the full rosters for all four countries got released yesterday.

Mike Sullivan will be behind the bench for the United States as head coach, deploying a group anchored by arguably the NHL’s best goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck; two young Norris Trophy winners in Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox on the blue line; and an intimidating mix of game-breaking players up top.

“It might be one of the deepest group of players that that the U.S. has ever had. I think that's a tribute to the development of the sport of hockey in the United States,” Sullivan said. “It will be a talented group that I think can compete against any team in any environment with their speed, their skill, their size... there's abrasiveness, there's defensive conscience, there's dynamically offensive players.

“But as I've said all along, every team is going to have talent. Talent alone isn't going to win the tournament, we don't think. I think our challenge is to become a team. I'm incredibly honored to be the coach of this team, and am so looking forward to the opportunity to compete with these guys.”

However, Sullivan joked that he isn’t exactly looking forward to coaching against his captain, Sidney Crosby, expected to be in that same role for Team Canada. “It should be Sid. It should be Sid for sure, that’s not even a question,” Connor McDavid said. “It’s just how it should be. He’s Sidney Crosby and he’s been there so many times and he’s the guy. It’s just such a no-brainer.”

Crosby and McDavid were among the ‘First Six’ chosen to their team in June, along with Sid’s buddy and fellow Cole Harbour native Nathan MacKinnon. Crosby laughed at the time talking about how excited Nate was to pick his brain about representing Canada back then, which has surely increased ten-fold now that they know who’s joining them at the event.

“It's probably not an easy job to pick that team... all the teams, to be honest with you, when you look at the lineups... ton of skill,” Crosby said. “It'll be a great challenge, and obviously, it's been a long time since we were able to do something like this. So, I think everyone's excited.”

In fact, it’s been almost a decade since Crosby competed on a stage like this, the last occasion being the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. Erik Karlsson was part of Team Sweden for that event, and will be representing his country again at 4 Nations.

The tournament is taking place at Montreal’s Bell Centre and Boston’s TD Garden from Feb. 12-20 of next year before the NHL returns to the Olympics in 2026 for the first time since 2014.

“I think everyone's excited for it. We don't really know what to expect,” Karlsson said. “So, it's not very often that you end up in a situation that we're in with the experience that we have to do something new.

“I think we're fairly deep in on every position, as are the three other nations. Hopefully it clicks right away, and we go from there. But it’s great. A lot of close personal friends, a lot of good hockey players. It's fun. It's been a long time coming since we had a full pool to pick from.”

His countryman Rickard Rakell was snubbed from Sweden’s roster, a bit of a surprise considering the season he’s having. The forward, a five-time 20-goal scorer, ranks fourth among all Swedish NHL players with 10 goals. Kyle Dubas, Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM, feels that defenseman Marcus Pettersson could have been in the mix as well.

“We can sit and argue that both should be on over some of the guys, especially in Raks’ case, the way he's played this year,” Dubas said in the latest edition of the GM Show. “How does he respond? Like, he knew on Sunday he wasn't on. He has a great moment for us (in the 5-4 win over Florida), a big shot block and punt out of the zone to Sid who then hits, ironically, Marcus to score. Do they use (the disappointment) to propel themselves forward? So, those are things we'll watch for.”

Dubas is Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, saying that so far, it’s been an unbelievable opportunity to learn from some accomplished members of management on the staff.

“This a nice milestone for the rosters be named. It's a great accomplishment for the 23 players on each group, but the job is really just beginning,” Dubas said.