Early Trading: Projecting who may be on Canada's 4 Nations roster
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TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun joins Gino Reda to discuss who he believes will be on Team Canada's roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off from each position and the level of secrecy involved in the roster reveals, which will be made official on Wednesday.
Why has there been such a shroud of secrecy surround the official roster lists for the 4 Nations Face-Off?
Sidney Crosby CanadaPierre LeBrun: The NHL and NHL Players Association want to make a big deal of these roster reveals on Wednesday. We know Finland and Sweden will be in the afternoon because of the time difference back home, while Canada and the US are in the evening.
So what's happened because of that, for example, Team Canada has warned all of us that 'We are not confirming any of the names you've thrown at us,' and they have certainly owned up to that. It's been an absolute shut down with everyone on the management and coaching staff for Team Canada. Everyone from the league and the PA is the same thing and, in fact, the NHL sent out a note to team PR staffs warning them that they were not going to give teams a heads up on who were on these rosters. They're trying to keep the reveal a true reveal but it doesn't mean that we, Darren Dreger, Chris Johnston, and I, can't do a little digging.
Five of the six players officially named back in June were forwards, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, and Connor McDavid. Who do you believe is going to round out the forward group?
Mitchell Marner Toronto Maple LeafsLeBrun: From making some calls around the league we believe that these are some of the forwards who will be named on Wednesday:
Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett from the Florida Panthers. Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs, we think Marner will be the only Maple Leafs to make team Canada. Mark Stone from the Vegas Golden Knights, and Travis Konecny from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Those are some of the names we believe will end up making the final roster come Wednesday.
What about the blueline? Cale Makar was named to the team back in the summer and you believe you have a pretty good handle on at least four more of the defencemen to be representing Canada?
Alex Pietrangelo Vegas Golden KnightsLeBrun: This is what we believe to be true at this moment:
Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo from the Golden Knights we think will be on there, as well as Josh Morrissey from the Winnipeg Jets and Travis Sanheim from the Philadelphia Flyers.
We're missing some names there but those are four of the defencemen that we believe have received the good news here in the past 24 hours about making the 4 Nations roster for Team Canada.
One name you won't hear is Drew Doughty. Of course, he's been hurt all year. Team Canada, I'm told, did reach out to Doughty in the last 24 hours just to explain that 'Hey let's see how you are when you come back,' Doughty is expected to come back anywhere from five-to-seven weeks from now, 'Let's see how you're playing and if there's an injury on defence, maybe we're the first guy to get a call.'
There's so much respect for Doughty. He would have been on, I think, had he not been hurt this year given his Olympic experience in 2010 and 2014 and he's still a great defenceman but obviously you understand why he won't be part of the roster when it's announced on Wednesday, because he hasn't played hockey yet.
There's been a lot of talk about who's going to play in net. When we spoke last week you felt pretty confident that Aidan Hill and Jordan Binnington would be named to the team. Are you still confident that they're on the team and is there any word on the third goalie?
Jordan BinningtonLeBrun: I don't believe that's changed. Again there's that word, believe, because Team Canada won't confirm, but I still believe that Binnington and Hill will be named on Wednesday and still a mystery for the third name.
Names that have been thrown at us in terms of the discussion and being in the conversation over the last week are Logan Thompson, Samuel Montembeault, Stuart Skinner, and even Marc-Andre Fleury, which would be a spectacular story.
Nothing confirmed yet, even from secondary sourcing on who that third name will be, so it will be interesting. As I mentioned last week, whoever that third goalie is isn't necessarily the third goalie right now. It just means that he's one of three names because the reality is that Team Canada views the goaltending competition as completely wide open between now and February and whoever has the hot hand will get the start come Feb. 12 in Montreal.
Is there a theme that you're sensing on who Team Canada is looking for the fill out the final few openings on the roster?
Brandon Hagel Tampa Bay LightningLeBrun: For sure. If we were indeed correct about some of these names, you can see a particular trend. Reinhart and Bennet from the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Hagel, Cirelli joining Point from the two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning from a few years ago. Stone, Pietrangelo, Theodore, and Hill from the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights.
If this is indeed what we think it is, the trend is pretty clear that a very big tiebreaker among all these talented players goes to guys that have won cups, guys that are winners. That's not surprising because there will be a lot of pressure on this team. It's a pressure packed tournament.
The other thing I would mention is that Jon Cooper, who's Team Canada head coach., is not just an innocent bystander in this process. Yes, Don Sweeney is the 4 Nations general manager, Doug Armstrong is the overarching Olympic GM for Italy in 2026, those are huge vices but Jon Cooper was leaned on in terms of 'what do you think of this guy' and 'how would you use this guy?' I only mention that because I don't know if people will bat an eye, for example, at Brandon Hagel potentially being on this team. Not if you would ask Cooper, because he's one of his most trusted players in Tampa.
Those are all layers you have to bounce around your head once you see the official roster reveal.