The 4 Nations Face-Off is just about here, and on Friday, Sweden and Finland gave us our first look at some players who will be suiting up for the tournament.
The NHL announced the first six players who will be playing for the two European countries during the inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Finland First Six
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
D Esa Lindell (Dallas Stars)
D Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars)
F Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)
F Mikko Rantanen (Colorado Avalanche)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
Sweden First Six
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
D Erik Karlsson (Pittsburgh Penguins)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida Panthers)
F Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators)
F Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers)
F William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Finland’s Barkov and Sweden’s Forsling got the good news four days after capturing the Stanley Cup with Florida.
The news for Saros came hours after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported he is closing in on an eight-year extension with the Predators.
Finland will be led by head coach Antti Pennanen, the current bench boss for Ilves of Liiga, the top professional league in Finland.
Sweden has yet to announce its head coach for the tournament.
The United States and Canada will reveal their first six players later Friday.
The tournament runs Feb. 12-20, 2025 in Montreal and Boston. All games will be on Sportsnet.