After a year of hype, we’re finally going to get best-on-best hockey – or a reasonable approximation. The 4 Nations Face-Off finally begins on Wednesday night from the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Canadian national team tangles with their counterparts from Sweden, with a lot on the line in a high-stakes round robin tournament! The winning team will be pushed to the brink of the championship game, while the losing team will have their work cut out for them from here on out.

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff

Sam Reinhart [13] – Connor McDavid [97] – Mitch Marner [16]
Sidney Crosby [87] – Nathan MacKinnon [29] – Mark Stone [61]
Brad Marchand [63] – Brayden Point [21] – Seth Jarvis [24]
Brandon Hagel [38] – Anthony Cirelli [71] – Travis Konecny [11]

Devon Toews [5] – Cale Makar [8]
Josh Morrissey [44] – Colton Parayko [55]
Shea Theodore [27] – Drew Doughty [89]

Jordan Binnington [50] is expected to start in net, with either Adin Hill [33] or Sam Montembeault [35] dressed as backup. Travis Sanheim and Sam Bennett are the healthy extras for Team Canada.

We’ve been hearing hockey men fantasizing for years about what Team Canada would look like in a best-on-best environment. Well, here it is: a murderer’s row of offensive talent. It’s a stacked enough team that Brad Marchand, a very good hockey player, is on the third line. Shea Theodore is a third pairing defender! Sidney Crosby is playing on the wing!

The big question: can Canada’s big guns cohere into a capital-T team in a short timespan? If Canada’s players play to their capabilities, they’re going to be hard to beat.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Filip Forsberg [9] – Elias Pettersson [40] – Adrian Kempe [10]
Rickard Rakell [67] – Mika Zibanejad [93] – William Nylander [88]
Jesper Bratt [63] – Joel Eriksson Ek [20] – Lucas Raymond [23]
Viktor Arvidsson [33] – Elias Lindholm [28] – Gustav Nyquist [12]

Victor Hedman [77] – Jonas Brodin [25]
Mattias Ekholm [14] – Erik Karlsson [65]
Gustav Forsling [42] – Rasmus Dahlin [26]

Filip Gustavsson [32] is projected to start in net, backed up by either Samuel Ersson [30] or Linus Ullmark [35]. Sweden’s healthy extras are Leo Carlsson and Rasmus Andersson.

Does Sweden have the aggregate talent level that Canada does? No, probably not. If you add up the individual capabilities of Canada’s players and compare them to Sweden’s, there’s a gulf between them. But one thing Swedish teams have traditionally been quite good at in these types of environments is coming together and playing roles within a structured system. If Sweden can play as a unit and make Canada play their style of game, they could have a shot – especially in a short tournament.

Daily Faceoff Live is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!