The Chicago Blackhawks had a few players who came into the year thinking that they had a chance to make a Four Nations Faceoff roster. On Wednesday, all four rosters were revealed. There are a few players who made it that are either current Blackhawks or former Chicago players that fans will remember.
Sweden
Team Sweden is very good. There is a lot of skill on this team that will give them a good chance to make some noise in this tournament.
They might not be Canada or the United States in terms of elite player depth but they are all truly great players and all-stars in the NHL.
No current Blackhawks are on this team but fans might remember Gustav Forsling. The Hawks traded Forsling away while he was still developing and that has turned out to be a mistake.
Right now, Forsling, who acted as a number one defenseman on the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, is one of the best in the league at his position.
The Canucks or Blackhawks should have never traded him away and the Carolina Hurricanes certainly regret putting him on waivers.
Finland
Finland is the one team that will have a Chicago Blackhawks representative. Teuvo Teravainen will be on the team.
This was an expected move for them. They aren’t as deep at forward as the other three countries but their high-end talent is just as good.
Teravainen will be on the team as a compliment to the top guys. His likely roster spot will land in the middle-six.
In a recent turn of events, Kevin Lankinen has become one of the best goalies in the NHL. The Blackhawks are not his most recent team before landing with the Vancouver Canucks but he was playing for Chicago a lot in 2020-2022.
While Lankinen was with Chicago, he was never able to earn that starter spot full-time. Now that his game has developed over the years, he is good enough to represent his country which is known for pumping out outstanding goalie after outstanding goalie.
USA
There aren’t any ties on Team USA other than the fact that this is the squad that a lot of Chicagoans will be rooting for a lot as they represent their home country.
Team USA is as good as it’s ever been. Superstars like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Jack Hughes are ready to bring fans out of their seats.
Canada
Brandon Hagel has turned into a superstar. The Chicago Blackhawks had to trade him during their rebuild but he has certainly become even better than the Tampa Bay Lightning could have imagined.
Now, Hagel is on Team Canada looking to win a Gold Medal with some of the best players in the world like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, and Cale Makar amongst others.
The big Blackhawks story for Team Canada is the fact that Connor Bedard was a snub. According to them, he has not been good enough so far this year to make the team.
There is an argument to be made that he still should have made it despite his slow start because of what he’d be able to do there with players like that but he will have plenty of other chances to represent Canada.
The Four Nations Faceoff will take place between these four teams in February in Boston and Montreal.
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Related: History Suggests Bedard Will Improve at Faceoffs in Time
