Canadiens Candidates for the 4 Nations Face-Off – The Hockey Writers Montreal Canadiens Latest News, Analysis & More

National team managers only have until Dec. 4 to reveal the final roster selections for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Many names are being bandied about by the pundits and fans. What about the Montreal Canadiens? Do any Montreal players have a serious shot at representing Canada, the United States, Sweden, or Finland? More importantly, given the state of the franchise, does it even matter?

Finland – Patrik Laine

Despite the nasty injury forward Patrik Laine suffered during pre-season play in September, Finland’s own general manager (GM) Jere Lehtinen has said the 26-year-old has a shot at making the roster. 

Fears that Laine would miss the entire 2024-25 NHL season were assuaged when the prognostic revealed he’d be out for two to three months. That was late September. Three months means the tail end of December, and the 4 Nations Face-Off is played in February. Technically speaking, and assuming Laine does fully recover by the new year and plays some NHL hockey, this might happen. 

The problem is that the roster must be finalized by Dec. 2. That’s a lot earlier than New Year’s. What will Laine’s health be like? Who knows. At the very least, he has been skating at practice this week. That should encourage Finland to keep him in mind until the very last minute. One suspects they are keenly invested in the Canadiens’ morning skates too. 

Sweden – Emil Heineman

Alas, Montreal doesn’t have much to offer Sweden for this tournament. There are only two Swedes on the roster, forward Emil Heineman and defenceman Gustav Lindstrom – Oliver Kapanen is Swedish-born but plays for Finland. Lindstrom has only played for the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League (AHL) this season. 

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Heineman had a good enough camp to make the Canadiens’ roster this season, which was a highly encouraging sign of his development. There was a nice spell in October when he scored twice, but his productivity has cooled off since. Furthermore, some predictions have left wingers like Filip Forsberg, Jesper Bratt, Adrian Kempe, and Rickard Rakell making the cut. Is Heineman better or more impactful than any of them? With due respect, no. Not now, at least.

Canada – Nick Suzuki, Sam Montembeault

Is there a roster for which making the cut means more than Canada? That’s not to belittle the supporters of the other three teams. American, Finnish, and Swedish hockey fans are brilliant, but it often feels that the pressure is weightier regarding Team Canada. 

Are there Canadiens who can make the Canadian team? The excitement surrounding Nick Suzuki might push him over the edge. He leads the Habs in points with 19 in 17 matches via seven goals and 12 assists. Judging by many of his teammates’ plus-minus ratings, his minus-1 doesn’t look so bad. Both FanSided and Daily Faceoff think the London, Ontario native could be the team’s fourth-line centre.

Maybe, maybe not. The competition is incredibly fierce for every single Team Canada spot. It shouldn’t come as a surprise if it doesn’t happen. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be somewhat disappointing for Habs fans, but it’s okay to be disappointed by a conclusion that doesn’t shock. 

The other candidate, arguably more likely, is goalie Samuel Montembeault. He went through a rough patch in late October and early November, even getting the hook in games against the New York Rangers and Seattle Kraken. The Becancour, Quebec native has since righted the ship with fine displays in November. A goalie who can shut out the Auston Matthews-led Toronto Maple Leafs and the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers needs to be on GM Don Sweeney’s radar. 

For that matter, which Canadian goalies are truly dominating the NHL this season? As per ESPN’s stats, of the goalies who have played at least seven games, 34-year-old Jake Allen is the Canadian with the best goals-against average (GAA) with 2.30. Nobody has been talking about him, so Montembeault definitely has a chance.

United States – Cole Caufield

Oh, aren’t we clever by mentioning that defenceman Lane Hutson was born and bred in Illinois? That is simply not going to happen. He’s a great young talent, but Team USA will be happy with Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Adam Fox, and company.

The more serious consideration is forward Cole Caufield. Just how serious is another matter. Through 19 contests, the Wisconsinite has reverted to “Goal Caufield” mode, having already scored 12 times. According to MoneyPuck, Caufield is 31st among forwards in all situations for expected goals per 60 minutes with 1.43. Plus, there are some cheats in that ranking with players who have partaken in fewer games but made an impact when returning from injury.

But honestly, when the prognosticators envision wingers like the Tkachuk brothers and J.T. Miller on the right or Jack Hughes, Kyle Connor, and Jake Guentzel on the left, it would take a miracle for Caufield to be a part of the action. As sad as it might be, Caufield feels like a more obvious selection for the IIHF World Championship that happens at the same time as the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whether that’s fair or not (Habs fans might cry foul and fair play to them), the current crop of American forwards is so incredible that a player of Caufield’s calibre might not get in. In fact, he probably won’t. That’s how good the Americans are these days.

National Pride Versus the Job at Hand

The simple answer to whether it matters that a player is called to play for their national team is “yes.” These are big tournaments with plenty of bragging rights on the line. The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off is the inaugural edition, replacing, in a sense, the World Cup of Hockey. The latter was last played in 2016.

Moreover, the very concept of an international tournament suggests that teams will bring the very best players to the event. From that point of view, even viewers who aren’t inclined to get jingoistic about such occasions can appreciate the quality of the hockey on display. The best forwards, defencemen, and goalies will be on the ice in every game. It’s pretty awesome. 

The Canadiens’ solid play since Nov. 11 aside (they’re 3-1-0 since then), they ave a ton of work to do to improve. It’s been said dozens of times that expectations are low this season. There still needs to be light at the end of the tunnel, however distant and faint it may be at present. The hard truth is that head coach Martin St. Louis’ job is to make the Canadiens as good as they can be, not ensure some of his players get selected for an international tournament. 

Surely, Caufield, Suzuki, Laine, and Montembeault enjoy hearing their names mentioned in the conversation about 4 Nations line-ups. As they should. It promises to be a ton of fun. But it’s not the end of the world should some or none of them get in. The focus needs to be on improving their NHL fortunes. Better yet, they could use it as fuel to have an even better season in Montreal. A national roster’s loss can be the Canadiens’ gain, and few supporters would cry foul about that.