By Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Julian McKenzie
Team Canada revealed its 23-man roster for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament on Wednesday.
Forwards Mitch Marner, Sam Reinhart, Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Travis Konecny, Mark Stone and Seth Jarvis were added to Canada’s roster, with Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Travis Sanheim, Devon Toews, Colton Parayko and Josh Morrissey joining as defensemen.
Forwards Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Brad Marchand and Sidney Crosby, along with defenseman Cale Makar had already been named as the first six members of Team Canada in June.
Canada’s goaltending has been subject to much debate in anticipation of Wednesday’s roster reveal. The Canadians’ trio consists of Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault.
Canada is being led by Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper behind the bench, flanked by assistant coaches Bruce Cassidy, Pete DeBoer, Rick Tocchet, Mishka Donskov and Lightning video coach James Emery. Cooper is also expected to lead Canada at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will run Feb. 12 to 20 in Montreal and Boston.
Full roster
(Note: Highlighted players had already been named to the roster.)
Snubs
Every Team Canada has more qualified forwards than the number of available roster spots, so the most notable omissions can be found there in Zach Hyman, John Tavares, Mark Scheifele and Connor Bedard.
Hyman is coming off a 70-goal season (postseason included) spent playing alongside Connor McDavid. Tavares has been in a top form for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season and has a vast international resume that includes serving as Canada’s captain at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in May. Scheifele is scoring at better than a point-per-game pace for the high-flying Winnipeg Jets. And Bedard is a 19-year-old wunderkind who rewrote the record book while representing his country at the world junior championship.
The snubs on the back end include Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, aged 25 and 24, respectively. They’re both high-end puck distributors coming off big seasons. — Chris Johnston
Surprises
Jarvis jumps off the page as the player least expected to battle his way onto this version of Team Canada. He doesn’t have the resume of many other players left at home. And at 5-foot-10, he doesn’t have the size, either.
But the 22-year-old Carolina Hurricanes winger does possess slick playmaking ability and a competitive spirit, which makes him a selection with upside. He could become a Team Canada fixture if things go well.
On the back end, few saw Parayko securing a spot among Canada’s top seven, but as a big man with Stanley Cup-winning pedigree who is capable of logging tough minutes, he brought more security than some other choices.
Montembeault isn’t a surprise, per se, but his save percentage this season is lagging behind Cam Talbot, Logan Thompson, Mackenzie Blackwood, Marc-Andre Fleury and Darcy Kuemper. Each of those other Canadian goalies will be watching the tournament from home. — Johnston
Expectations
Fair or not, any player that pulls a Canadian national team sweater over their head is expected to win. That’s especially true in best-on-best men’s competition, where Canada has won four of the past five tournaments and nine of 13 overall.
Even with the country’s decade of dominance now a long way in the rear-view mirror, the high hopes remain.
Canada will try to overwhelm opponents with its depth. Cooper can run out McDavid, Crosby, Point and Cirelli down the middle. If for whatever reason that isn’t working, he’s got MacKinnon and Bennett as ready-made options to slide to center.
And for good measure, Cooper’s got Makar to serve as the heartbeat of a blue line that features a nice blend of size, smarts and elite decision-makers.
Even with the questions (or doubts) in goal, this is a roster built to execute at a high level that intends to keep opponents at bay in hard-fought games by limiting mistakes. Canada expects three goals to be good enough to win against any team in the tournament. — Johnston
Required reading
Other rosters
(Photo of Mitch Marner scoring on Jordan Binnington: Jeff Curry / USA Today)