Some exciting news was released today ahead of game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. The schedule for next year’s Four Nations Face-Off was announced, and it goes down in Montreal and Boston between February 12th and 20th, 2025. If you didn’t hear the initial announcement, this tournament is going to replace the NHL all-star weekend next season, and will feature Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden. I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited to finally see a best-on-best hockey tournament for the first time since the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The tournament will be played with NHL rules, and it’ll feature a round robin followed by a 1 game championship final. It’s too bad that it’s only 4 teams, but I see this tournament as a warmup for the NHL’s return to the Olympics in 2026, and hopefully another World Cup of Hockey tournament in the near future.

Below is the schedule for the tournament, with all times listed in CT.

Feb. 12 @ 7 p.m. : Canada vs. Sweden – Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Feb. 13 @ 7 p.m. : USA vs. Finland – Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Feb. 15 @ 12 p.m. : Finland vs. Sweden – Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Feb. 15 @ 7 p.m. : USA vs. Canada – Location: Bell Centre, Montreal

Feb. 17 @ 12 p.m. : Canada vs. Finland – Location: TD Garden, Boston

Feb. 17 @ 7 p.m. : Sweden vs. USA – Location: TD Garden, Boston

Feb. 20 @ 5 p.m. : Championship Game (#1 vs. #2) – Location: TD Garden, Boston

This tournament promises to bring lots of great action and excitement, and people have already begun making their dream mock rosters for each country. We learned today that the first 6 players from each team will be revealed on June 28th, but before that I thought it would be interesting to look at which members of your Winnipeg Jets will be taking the ice in this tournament next February. There’s 4 players from the Jets that I’ll briefly discuss who should all be considered for roster spots (with their respective country) – listed in likelihood of them making their nation’s team.

This man is probably the most obvious choice from the Jets to be playing in this tournament. Hellebuyck is a star American goalie who will surely be a part of team USA at this tournament. The competition for who gets the most playing time in goal will be interesting though, as USA has probably the most goalie depth out of the 4 nations. Joining Hellebuyck could be other star American goalies such as Thatcher Demko, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman. Goaltending will definitely be a strength for team USA, and I think Hellebuyck has the early slight edge over the other American goalies for the starting job. In a tournament formatted the way it is, Hellebuyck will need to prove himself early on that he can be the #1 netminder.

Another almost lock to represent his nation at this tournament will be Kyle Connor for team USA. The Americans next best strength (aside from goaltending) will be having elite goal scorers available, and Connor is at the top of that list with his consistent goal scoring ability. The line combinations for best-on-best tournaments will be interesting to see, but I think Connor could be seen on the 2nd or 3rd line centered by Vegas forward Jack Eichel. Whoever centers his line, look out for Connor to score some goals in this tournament.

Now we get to 2 players who should be in consideration to make their nation’s team, but it will be difficult to tell if they will make the final roster or not. Morrissey is the first player, and despite his elite play over the last few seasons, it’s going to be tough to crack what will be a stacked Canadian roster. I’ve seen some projected rosters that have Morrissey in a top 4 role, some where he’s a 6th/7th defence, and others where he is left off entirely. Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Noah Dobson and Evan Bouchard appear to be “locks”, so where does that leave Morrissey in the mix? Only time will tell, but Morrissey’s offensive game could be just what Canada needs on the blue line depending on what other style of defenders are selected.

The final Jets player who you may see in action at the 4 nations face-off is Mark Scheifele. The same case as I mentioned with Morrissey presents itself here with Scheifele. Canada’s #1 strength will be its forward group, and it will be unreal to see a team with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard and Nathan MacKinnon to name just a few. Scheifele is also in the same consideration level as Morrissey when it comes to projected lineups that I’ve seen online. Scheifele could be the 4th line centre, a 13th forward or left off the team. You could see Scheifele on the wing with a team full of elite centres, but what Scheifele has that other Canadian forwards may not have which will make him a valued contributor is his size, vision and versatility as a shooter or playmaker on the powerplay.

The Jets are a team primarily made of Canadians and Americans (12 players on their current roster), so there will likely be no Jets on either team Sweden or team Finland. Overall, the Jets will have at least 2 players representing their home country next February (best case 4 players), in what will be a memorable and exciting competition for both NHL fans and for the world of hockey.