Which 4 Nations Face-Off squad has edge at each position?

The rosters have been named, and the stage is set. Two months from now, four international powerhouses will take the ice under the lights of Montreal’s Bell Centre and Boston’s TD Garden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, looking to send a message before the 2026 Olympic Games.

It’s the first step in a return players and fans alike have long craved — the best of the best representing their nations, doing their thing on the world stage. We’ll get our first look at Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland when February’s tournament arrives, bringing with it the chance to finally see how dominant a Canadian squad stocked with faces of the league can be, how Team USA’s golden era fares against its North American rival, and how the new generations of greats for two ever-dangerous European sides measure up, too.

With the rosters now taking shape, attention turns to how the squads stack up against one another. Here’s a look at which nation has the edge at each position heading into the tournament.

FORWARDS

All four rosters are dotted with all-world talent. Still, it’s tough to argue against the potential offensive dominance of a Canadian team built around Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby. That’s not even where the elite centre depth ends, with Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli named to the roster, too, meaning any one of those top-tier pivots could move over to the wing and pair up with another game-breaker.

The combination options including just those key names are wild enough — defences trying to contain McDavid and MacKinnon, flying down the ice together at breakneck speed, or how about MacKinnon teaming up with Crosby and Brad Marchand for an all-Nova-Scotia line?

Then there’s the natural wingers the Canadians will bring — the scorers, led by current league goal-scoring leader Sam Reinhart, the two-way talents like Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, the bite brought by depth options like Sam Bennett and Travis Konecny. Canada seems to have a little bit of everything up front, highlighted by two of the most prolific offensive talents in the game, Nos. 97 and 29.

Sam Reinhart – Connor McDavid – Mitch Marner
Brad Marchand – Sidney Crosby – Nathan MacKinnon
Brandon Hagel – Brayden Point – Mark Stone
Sam Bennett – Anthony Cirelli – Travis Konecny
Seth Jarvis

That said, Canada’s potential edge over the tournament’s second-best forward corps, the Americans, is slim. The U.S. boasts some elite centre depth of its own in Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Jack Hughes, and just as talented a group built around that trio, highlighted by the Tkachuk brothers and a couple proven snipers in Jake Guentzel and Kyle Connor.

Both North American entrants have all they need to dominate offensively, and Canada and the U.S. will bring forward corps with more depth than the Swedish and Finnish sides, both of which are led by top-end talents too, but ultimately more top-heavy overall. The edge goes to Canada here simply because of the absurd skill at the core of its lineup, the number of leaders who have proven time and time again that they can take over a game in the dying moments, with a win on the line.

DEFENCE

The Americans’ blue line is flush with elite puck movers, headlined by Norris winners Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox. But it’s the complexion of the group around them that ensures the opposition will face a tough matchup regardless of who comes over the boards in a USA jersey, with Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski and Noah Hanifin the other options on the left side, and Charlie McAvoy and young Brock Faber rounding out those manning the right. A group with no shortage of offensive skill, dotted with steady defenders and some physicality, too.

Quinn Hughes – Charlie McAvoy
Jaccob Slavin – Adam Fox
Zach Werenski – Brock Faber
Noah Hanifin

If the Canadians have an edge, it might be familiarity, with a top four likely to be comprised of two pairs of defenders with plenty of experience alongside each other: Colorado’s duo of Cale Makar and Devon Toews, and Vegas’s Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo. Still, the American group seems stocked with more true top-end, all-around blue-line talents, led by a particularly lethal top four.

The true biggest rival for the U.S. on that front would seem to be the Swedes. Led by a pair of veteran Norris winners in their own right in Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson, the Tre Kronor also boasts some top-end shutdown defenders in Gustav Forsling and Jonas Brodin, the steady veteran presence of Mattias Ekholm, and some young high-flyers in Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Andersson.

Both squads will have what they need to control games from the blue line, but the top end of the Americans’ defence corps — led by two marquee talents squarely in their prime — seems to give the U.S. the edge here.

GOALTENDING

This one doesn’t seem particularly close. While goaltending was the biggest question mark for the Canadian squad in the lead-up to the roster announcements, its greatest rival seems best equipped at the position.

Connor Hellebuyck — the reigning Vezina winner — and Jake Oettinger have both been excellent so far this season. The third member of the U.S. trio, Jeremy Swayman, has found himself mired in a tough 2024-25 campaign — that said, he’s fresh off a 2024 post-season that made clear his ability to make waves in big games.

Much like its defence corps, Sweden seems not far behind, with a goaltending trio of Linus Ullmark, Filip Gustavsson and Jacob Markstrom leaving the team with plenty of strong options, too. The Finns have a solid No. 1 in Juuse Saros, backed up by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Kevin Lankinen.

For Canada, the question mark in the cage remains, with Adin Hill, Jordan Binnington and Sam Montembeault getting the call. Hill’s post-season performances have proven he can find a higher level when the lights are brightest as the 28-year-old played a key role in his Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup a year and a half ago. But there’s little question that the Americans boast a far better trio between the pipes. 

And given the strength of the American blue line, too, and the all-world talent leading their forward corps, there’s an argument to be made that the U.S. enters the 4 Nations Face-Off with the deepest lineup on paper. The Finns, meanwhile, will enter as the resident underdogs, looking for another Cinderella run on the world stage, while Sweden’s skillful, well-balanced lineup figures to make more noise than most have predicted to this point.

For Canada, the top-end talent is undeniable. The question is whether its all-world offence will be enough to outscore issues that might arise elsewhere on the roster as the tournament rolls on.