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4 Nations Face-Off

Snapshots: Walman, Samsonov, 4 Nations Face-Off

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Jake Walman did not join the team for warmups on Sunday night, indicating that he’ll miss a third-straight game due to team suspension and an upper-body injury, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. Walman returned to top-pair line rushes at San Jose’s Sunday morning practice and was designated as a game-time decision, head coach Ryan Warsofsky shared with Max Miller of The Hockey News. Walman has nine points in 13 games – more than double the scoring of any other Sharks defender.

Despite that, the team opted for the restrained decision, and will instead return Jack Thompson to the lineup for his ninth game of the season. Thompson has four points on the year – second among Sharks defenders – and has generally looked much more the part of an everyday NHL defender. He’s served on San Jose’s second pair, while Henry Thrun is filling Walman’s top-pair spot next to Cody Ceci. Walman is traveling with the Sharks of a four-game road trip kicked off on Sunday night, and will look to instead return on Monday.

Other quick notes around the league:

  • Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Ilya Samsonov has returned to the team’s practices after missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury. There’s been no word on his availability for Monday night’s matchup against Carolina, but his return to practice is nonetheless exciting progress for a Golden Knights team that’s directed all of Samsonov’s minutes to starter Adin Hill. Hill has a 6-2-1 record and .881 save percentage through nine games this season, while temporary backup Akira Schmid has slotted into six AHL games and posted a .885 save percentage. Samsonov’s 3-1-1 record and .906 save percentage in five games should be enough to earn him routine starts when he’s healthy enough to return – a point that seems to be drawing close.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared on the latest Saturday Headlines segment that rosters for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off will be made public on December 4th, with Sweden and Finland’s coming early in the North American day while Canada and USA will announce theirs that evening. The event stands as the first in what will become a trend of in-season international events during non-Olympic years. It will take place from February 12th to February 20th and features the four of the five most-represented countries in the NHL, excluding Russia. Each country announced their first six players this summer – with Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Erik Karlsson, and Aleksander Barkov among the list of representatives.

Central Notes: Holloway, Kapanen, Makar, Novak, Sissons, Marchment, Vlasic

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In an impressive feat, St. Louis Blues’ forward Dylan Holloway will return to the lineup tonight after leaving the team’s most recent game after taking a puck to the neck (X Link). He left the game on a stretcher and was taken to an emergency department following the incident.

He’s been a solid addition to the Blues this season, as he’s off to the best scoring pace of his career to start the season. Four goals and six points in 13 games don’t necessarily jump off the page but considering he’s only managed nine points in 2022-23 and 2023-24, it’s a good improvement.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the team will still be without forward Kasperi Kapanen tonight. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported the projected lineup for tonight’s game and it didn’t include Kapanan meaning he’s likely still recovering from his upper-body injury.

Other Central notes:

  • Marc Moser of the Colorado Avalanche originally reported earlier that defenseman Cale Makar would be a game-time decision for the team’s contest tonight. As it turns out, Makar is expected to play in tonight’s action. Makar left during the second period of the team’s recent game against the Seattle Kraken but returned for less than a minute in the third period. He’s been the team’s best and arguably the league’s best player this season with five goals and 23 points in 13 games.
  • The Nashville Predators are without a few middle-six forwards tonight as the team announced Thomas Novak is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Colton Sissons has a similar injury designation. The news will inevitably hurt the Predators in one of their least productive areas as their 2.38 GF/G currently ranks 27th in the NHL.
  • Brien Rea of Victory+ reports that Dallas Stars’ forward Mason Marchment is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. This means that Marchment won’t be in the lineup tonight but could make his return this weekend against the Winnipeg Jets. He’s gotten off to a decent start on the year with two goals and eight points in 11 games.
  • Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Alex Vlasic had an impressive defensive season last year with a 90.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations on a basement-dwelling Blackhawks roster. Now that he’s recorded seven assists in 14 games this year, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic share that Vlasic is now getting outside consideration for Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. He played internationally for the United States this past summer recording two assists in eight games in the 2024 IIHF World Championships.

Metro Notes: Flyers, Romanov, Reilly, Hayes, Thompson

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As hinted earlier, the Philadelphia Flyers will be a little thin in the crease tonight. The organization announced that Aleksei Kolosov will not dress tonight due to a lower-body injury and Ivan Fedotov will make his fourth start of the season.

With Samuel Ersson still on the shelf with a lower-body injury, the Flyers needed to find a backup netminder for their contest tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The role will be filled by Kyle Konin whom the team has signed to an amateur tryout agreement for tonight’s game.

Konin hasn’t played competitively in quite some time and there’s no expectation he’ll play this evening. He last suited up in 2019-20 for the Grand Valley State Lakers playing in five games split between the university’s DII and DIII club teams. Konin also served as an emergency backup netminder for the Lightning and the St. Louis Blues although he did not play.

Other Metro notes:

  • The New York Islanders will still be light on the blue line with Andrew Gross of Newsday reporting defensemen Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly won’t re-enter the lineup tonight. Both blue-liners haven’t played since the team’s November 1st game against the Buffalo Sabres as they’re both nursing injuries. Tonight marks the third game without the pair and the Islanders have surrendered eight total games in the two games without Romanov and Reilly.
  • The play-by-play voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Josh Getzoff, reports Kevin Hayes is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This confirms Hayes won’t be in the lineup tonight as the Penguins take on the Carolina Hurricanes and should make him questionable for tomorrow’s contest against the Washington Capitals. Hayes’ absence won’t dramatically affect the Penguins’ lineup as he’s only averaging 9:27 of ice time in his first year with Pittsburgh.
  • We’re only a few weeks away from full rosters being announced for the 4 Nations Face-Off and one of the bigger topics of conversation has surrounded Team Canada’s goaltenders. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported earlier that Capitals’ netminder Logan Thompson has put himself on Team Canada’s radar with his solid start to the season. Thompson hasn’t recorded a loss yet this season after six starts and has managed a .903 save percentage. Should he find a spot on Team Canada’s roster, it’ll be Thompson’s first international play since the 2022 IIHF World Championships.

Atlantic Notes: Ostapchuk, Zub, Laine, Slafkovský, Motte, Benson

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The Senators papered Zack Ostapchuk back up to the active roster today after sending him down to AHL Belleville yesterday, per a team announcement.

Ottawa has now recalled the young center on three separate occasions this season. After initially cutting him from their roster on the final day of training camp, he’s been recalled thrice in the past week to serve as an injury fill-in while David Perron and Shane Pinto are out of the lineup.

Ostapchuk has served as the Sens’ third-line center between Noah Gregor and Michael Amadio and will do so again against the Sabres tomorrow, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. The 21-year-old went without a point in seven appearances last season but has managed to get on the scoresheet in 2024-25, recording his first career assist and a +1 rating while averaging 11:55 through three games.

While Ottawa will remain without Perron and Pinto for a while yet, they’re getting healthier on the back end. Defenseman Artem Zub will make his return from a concussion “sooner than later,” Garrioch said today. He’s been practicing with the team for the better part of the past week but will likely miss his ninth straight game Tuesday in Buffalo. He sustained the concussion in the Sens’ third game of the season against the Kings on a hit from L.A. winger Tanner Jeannot.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Canadiens winger Patrik Laine hasn’t yet debuted for the team after sustaining a knee injury in preseason, but his return timeline predicates he’ll hit the ice and return to regular-season action sometime next month. He’s still done enough throughout his career to put himself in consideration for a spot on Finland’s roster for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, general manager Jere Lehtinen told Shawn P. Roarke of NHL.com. There’s a solid chance he won’t get to see game action before rosters for the tournament are due in early December, but leaving him off the roster would leave the already-underdog Finns without a dynamic offensive talent. Health has been a significant hurdle for Laine over the past few years, but his 0.91 points per game since the beginning of the 2021-22 season rank fourth among Finnish NHLers behind Mikko Rantanen, Aleksander Barkov and Sebastian Aho.
  • Still with the Habs, winger Juraj Slafkovský practiced today after leaving Saturday’s loss to the Penguins late after a high hit from Pittsburgh forward Noel Acciari, relays Patrick Friolet of RDS. Slafkovský confirmed to reporters that he didn’t suffer a concussion on the play and will remain in the lineup against the Flames tomorrow, albeit in a slightly reduced second-line role alongside Jake Evans and Alex Newhook, while Kirby Dach takes his spot on the top-line alongside Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Slafkovský, 20, already missed three games earlier this season with a shoulder injury. When in the lineup, he has a goal and seven assists in nine appearances.
  • The Red Wings will have forward Tyler Motte available on Wednesday against the Blackhawks after he missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury, head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters today, including Ansar Khan of MLive.com. However, he may still be out of the lineup as a healthy scratch after Detroit escaped their division-rival Sabres with a 2-1 win over the weekend. Signed to a one-year, $800K deal on the second day of free agency, Motte did not have a point with a -2 rating in four appearances with Detroit before exiting the lineup.
  • The Sabres may activate winger Zach Benson from injured reserve before tomorrow’s contest against the Sens, head coach Lindy Ruff told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 19-year-old has sat out the last five games with a lower-body injury he sustained in their Global Series games against the Devils that never wholly resolved. It showed in his performance, as he was held off the scoresheet and logged a -4 rating in six appearances when in the lineup for Buffalo last month.

International Notes: Team Canada, Cracknell, Day

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St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will have his hands full for the first half of the 2024-25 NHL season. Armstrong recently took part in an interview with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun where the two spoke at length about Team Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Faceoff in 2025 and the announcement that teams will need rosters in place by December 2nd, 2024.

The first six players of Canada’s roster were already announced on June 28th, 2024 as Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Connor McDavid, and Brayden Point have already made the team. Canada ices the majority of players in the NHL (41.7% of opening night rosters in 2023-24) which makes Armstrong’s job in scouting that much more difficult in determining the next 17 players and three goaltenders in three months.

LeBrun adds that goaltending is the biggest question mark facing Team Canada as the team no longer has access to Carey Price, Martin Brodeur, or Roberto Luongo. Armstrong isn’t as worried about the goaltending situation for Canada as he said, “The only goalies to win a Stanley Cup over the last decade have been Russian or Canadian. So we’re in pretty good shape if you’re using that as a barometer“.

Other international notes:

  • Journeyman forward Adam Cracknell will take his talent overseas for the first time since the 2020-21 season as Slovakia’s HK Poprad announced a one-year contract for the veteran. Cracknell spent all last season with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights collecting 18 goals and 35 points in 53 games. He has 210 NHL games under his belt with the Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, and Anaheim Ducks but has not played in an NHL contest since the 2018-19 season.
  • Former top prospect Sean Day is heading overseas as HV71 of the SHL has announced a two-year deal for the defenseman. Day became the fourth player to be granted ’Exceptional Player Status’ by Hockey Canada behind John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, and McDavid but floundered almost immediately upon joining the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads in 2013-14. He was eventually drafted 81st overall by the Rangers in the 2016 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 28th, 2021.

USA Hockey Adds David Quinn, John Tortorella To 4 Nations Coaching Staff

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USA Hockey has added Penguins assistant coach David Quinn and Flyers head coach John Tortorella to its staff for next year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the governing body announced Wednesday.

Quinn and Tortorella will serve under the former’s new boss, Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan, at the event. They complete the core coaching staff after Wild head coach John Hynes was announced as an assistant earlier this summer.

In recent years, the 58-year-old Quinn has become a fixture behind the U.S. men’s national team bench. The Rhode Island native was the Americans’ head coach at the 2022 Winter Olympics and World Championship and returned in the same role at the Worlds in 2023.

However, Quinn failed to lead the U.S. to a medal at any event. He also served as an assistant at the 2007, 2012 and 2016 Worlds, going medalless in those as well.

Tortorella’s international experience is much more limited. The 66-year-old was last involved with Team USA at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, serving as head coach. He didn’t medal there, nor did he as head coach at the 2008 World Championship and as an assistant at the Worlds in 2005.

Both are experienced winners at the collegiate and professional levels, though. Tortorella guided the Lightning to their first championship in 2004 and won the Jack Adams Award twice, first in the championship year with Tampa Bay and again with the Blue Jackets in 2017. He also won the Calder Cup as head coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 1996.

Quinn, meanwhile, won five Hockey East championships as an associate and head coach at Boston University. He was also the associate coach on the Terriers team that won the national championship in 2009.

Jack Eichel, Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy, and Matthew Tkachuk were the first six players named to the U.S. roster for the tournament back in June. The rest of the NHL-only contingent will be announced later this year.

Snapshots: Team Canada, Pacioretty, Marushev

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True best-on-best men’s hockey is only about six months away from making its return at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The countries participating have already named their first six roster players for the event, with Canada already confirming they’ll be taking Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Brad Marchand.

But there are still many roster decisions still to be made, especially for the league’s most common nationality. To that end, Luke Fox of Sportsnet listed some dark-horse youngsters that could challenge for spots. Most of them would be repping the senior team for the first time, although a few have World Championship experience.

Look for Quinton Byfield, Alexis Lafrenière and Mason McTavish to get outside consideration for bottom-six roles, Fox opines, while Thomas Harley and Owen Power will push to find spots on the blue line. But the biggest question mark at any international event for the Canadians recently has been goaltending, and that won’t change for the February tournament.

As such, look for Blues backup Joel Hofer to push for a spot on the final roster, Fox says. The 24-year-old finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting last season after posting a 15-12-1 record, .913 SV% and 2.65 GAA in 27 starts and three relief appearances behind Jordan Binnington in St. Louis.

Other tidbits from around the league:

  • If the Sharks aren’t content with the veteran pickups they’ve made so far this offseason, they should approach free-agent winger Max Pacioretty about attending training camp on a PTO, opines Max Miller of The Hockey News. San Jose was busy insulating rookies Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith this summer, adding Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg in free agency and claiming Barclay Goodrow off waivers from the Rangers. But the club could still have a bit of a competition brewing for roster spots up front, especially if captain Logan Couture isn’t healthy enough to return to play after osteitis pubis cost him nearly all of 2023-24. Pacioretty has played just 91 games combined over the past three seasons due to multiple Achilles tendon tears, and the 35-year-old had just four goals in 47 games with the Capitals last year.
  • Former Golden Knights prospect Maxim Marushev is on the move in his native Russia, dropping down from the KHL to the VHL with Metallurg Novokuznetsk for 2024-25 (per a team announcement). Marushev, now 25, was a seventh-round pick of the Golden Knights in 2020. He played parts of three seasons for their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, recording 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 125 games. Upon the expiry of his entry-level contract in 2023, he wasn’t issued a qualifying offer and returned home. However, he managed just one point in 28 KHL games last year, split between Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk.

International Notes: Team Canada, Kuznetsov, Chernyshov, Rendulic

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Team Canada is already making significant preparations for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament that is set to take place in mid-February next year. The organization announced four assistant coaches who will be on the bench with the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jon Cooper. Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights, Peter DeBoer of the Dallas Stars, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks, and Misha Donskov of the Stars will all represent their native Canada in next season’s tournament.

All four assistant coaches have previously served with Team Canada in varying capacities. Cassidy suited up for Team Canada in the 1984 IIHF World Junior Championship but did not earn a medal while also playing for Canada’s National Team during the 1986-87 season where he scored three goals and nine points in 12 games. As a player and a coach, the 4 Nations Face-Off will be Cassidy’s official return to Team Canada.

Tocchet joins Cassidy as the only other member of the staff to be joining Team Canada as a coach for the first time. Tocchet played in the 1987 and 1991 iterations of the Canada Cup where Canada secured gold against the Soviet Union and the United States. Vancouver’s head coach suited up for Team Canada’s World Championship after his dominant 1989-90 season concluded.

DeBoer and Donskov have considerable experience coaching Team Canada with most of their work coming in the World Junior Championships. DeBoer served as an assistant coach with Team Canada for the 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2015 tournaments with Canada winning gold in the final year. Similarly, Donskov served as a video coach to Team Canada during their pursuit of gold in 2015 while winning another gold medal with the team in 2016 as an assistant coach.

Other international notes:

  • Former forward for the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, Evgeny Kuznetsov will be leaving for his native Russia as SKA St. Petersburg announced they had signed the veteran to a four-year contract earlier today. Kuznetsov will earn $950K in each year of his deal with access to substantial bonuses. According to Daria Tuboltseva of RG.org, Kuznetsov will earn $3.5MM if he reaches the top three in scoring, $3.5MM if he reaches the top three in goal scoring, $3.5MM if he reaches the top three in +/-, and $1.2MM for winning the Gagarin Cup. This means that on his four-year contract, Kuznetsov will have the opportunity to earn $47MM in salary if he can achieve all his bonus markers.
  • Beat writer for the San Jose Sharks, Curtis Pashelka, reports that Sharks’ prospect Igor Chernyshov has terminated his contract with Dynamo Moscow and will head to North America for the 2024-25 NHL season. There has been no indication that San Jose is trying to sign Chernyshov to his entry-level contract. Chernyshov was a potential first-round talent in the 2024 NHL Draft that fell to 33rd overall in the second round. The OHL’s Saginaw Spirit selected Chernyshov in the most recent OHL Import Draft with the 56th overall selection, and he will likely suit up for them next season.
  • Former depth forward for the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, Borna Rendulic, has decided to extend his stay with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. According to EliteProspects, Rendulic is in agreement with St. Petersburg on an extension that will keep him with the organization for the 2024-25 KHL season. Rendulic was acquired from HC Sochi last year and 11 goals and 27 points in 51 games to close out the season.

Hockey Canada Adds Julien BriseBois, Kyle Dubas For 4 Nations Face-Off, Olympics

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Hockey Canada has added Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois and Penguins GM Kyle Dubas to its management group for both the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics, they announced today. BriseBois will serve as an assistant GM, while Dubas will serve as director of player personnel.

For the 4 Nations Face-Off next February, BriseBois and Dubas round out a management group that already includes Bruins GM Don Sweeney and Stars GM Jim Nill, the latter of whom is serving as an associate under Sweeney. The following year, they’ll join Nill and Sweeney for the Olympics, who are serving as assistant GMs under Blues GM Doug Armstrong for the event.

BriseBois, 47, receives his first call to the Canadian national team in any capacity. The longtime Lightning exec has served as Tampa’s GM since 2018, meaning he was at the helm for both of their Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021. Before taking over the top hockey ops position, he’d served as an assistant GM in Tampa while managing their AHL affiliate from 2010 to 2018. His first job in the NHL came with the Canadiens, where he served as their director of hockey operations and later VP of hockey operations from 2003 to 2010 under GM Bob Gainey.

Dubas, 38, is also inexperienced on the international stage, but he does have one tournament under his belt as an assistant GM. He was part of the Canadian front office at the 2024 World Championship, building a squad that reached the bronze medal game but lost to Sweden. It was Canada’s first time without a medal at the Worlds since 2018.

The Ontario native is coming off his first season as GM and president of hockey operations of the Penguins. Before that, he’d served in the Maple Leafs front office since 2014, first as an assistant GM before taking over the top job in 2018.

First Six Players Of 4 Nations Face-Off Rosters Announced

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Sweden, Finland, Canada, and the United States have each named the first six players of their rosters for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off (Twitter link). The event will take place from February 12th, 2025, until February 20th, 2025. It will be hosted at the Bell Centre in Montreal as well as the TD Garden in Boston. Each roster will consist of 20 skaters and three goaltenders meaning each team will name 17 additional players later this year.

The lineups are as follows:

Sweden:

Finland

Canada

United States

It’s hard to decide which of these rosters looks the most imposing with an initial glimpse. Canada leads the bunch with arguably the three best forwards in the NHL – in McDavid, MacKinnon, and Crosby. That trio will be incredibly tough to overcome, especially as MacKinnon has expressed interest in playing on Crosby’s wing. Assuming that would bump McDavid to his own line, Canada would have superstar power throughout their top-six.

But while Canada has loaded up on offense, America has loaded up on defense – bringing two Norris Trophy winners and one long-time favorite for the award. That should give them plenty of defense to corral Canada’s stars – at least enough to allow Matthews and Tkachuk a chance to strike. This tournament will notably mark  the first time Matthews has faced off against McDavid on the international stage, after avoiding each other during their World Juniors runs and playing together on ’Team North America’ at the 2017 World Cup.

Not to be left behind, Sweden is bringing their own pair of Norris Trophy winners in Hedman and Karlsson, flanked by a recent Norris-favorite – and this year’s fourth-place finisher – in Gustav Forsling. The trio offers the full suite of defensive skills, which should give good rise to the dynamic playmakers that will lead their offense.

But while Sweden and America take on the defense-first approach, Finland has joined Canada in loading up on offense – bringing the reigning Selke Trophy winner, Barkov, together with top-line scorers in Aho and Rantanen. The trio could make up one line, or support the majority of a depth chart, giving the Finns a bit more security as they look to enter the tournament with plenty of forward and goaltending talent – but a defense corps that could struggle to keep up with the other three attendees.

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