The 4 Nations Face-Off is underway and the hockey strongholds from around the world are poised to prove who is the best of the best. Canadian pride is on the line and despite World Juniors let downs and roster construction mishaps (ahem… MacKenzie Weegar) they will always be the team to beat.

Finland and Sweden have proven on many stages that European dominance is an ever present threat to the birthplace of hockey and of course, we would be remiss not to acknowledge the powerhouse American roster with arguably the best line-up in the tournament. These are the four countries with a legitimate claim to the title of World’s Finest.

NHL Stats publishes a document with Opening-Day Rosters “By The Numbers.” It really puts the 4 Nations event into perspective when you delve into the data provided:

It is a concise and convenient way to illustrate why those countries were chosen for the tournament. They are what make the National Hockey League an international showcase.

These are not, however, the only countries who bleed for the game. What about the forgotten nations that were left without a seat at the table? Using the 4 Nations criteria to select thirteen forwards, seven defensemen, and three goalies for each country we will consider how the tournament could have been expanded. We will also note a few Flames’ hopefuls along the way.

It isn’t too hard to fact check that while 84% of the league is impressive the overall total could be made slightly larger by removing Finland’s 5.2% and replacing them with Russia’s 6.5%. The 4 Nations tournament is upholding Russia’s ban from international play due to the ongoing war with Ukraine. A legitimate and important condition placed on Russia by the IIHF.

There is an interesting question to consider when thinking about Russia’s influence on the game: Who would they have sent to the tournament had they been invited?

Being that 4 Nations Face-Off is an NHL sanctioned event and teams are solely made-up of NHL professionals it would have been a different look than the NHL/KHL mash-ups that Russia often builds for the Olympics, that is, when NHL players were still attending.

There were 46 players who listed Russia as their birth country on Opening-Day rosters this year. More than enough to make a team and notably exactly double the number that an NHL team can keep on their active roster.

Alexander Ovechkin (C)

Nikita Kucherov (A)

Evgeni Malkin (A)

Team Canada decided to put some youth into their leadership group but these three are the legacy status players that Russia would want to put on the world stage.

Artemi Panarin

Kirill Kaprizov

Pavel Buchnevich

Vladislav Namestikov

Kirill Marchenko

Andrei Svechnikov

Matvei Michkov

Evgenii Dadonov

Ivan Barbashev

Yakov Trenin

Mikhail Sergachev

Ivan Provorov

Dmitry Orlov

Vladislav Gavrikov

Alexander Romanov

Nikita Zadorov

Dmitry Kulikov

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Sergei Bobrovsky

Igor Shesterkin

Ilya Sorokin

Vladimir Tarasenko

Vasily Podkolzin

Valeri Nichuskin

Andrei Kuzmenko

Daniil Miromanov (CGY)

Unsurprisingly, Russia could field quite a formidable team. They wouldn’t have the same calibre of elite talent that the Canadians or Americans boast but their collection of goalies is among, if not, the best of all the nations participating in the Face-Off.

Radko Gudas (C)

David Pastrnak (A)

Ondrej Palat (A)

Radko Gudas is new to his captaincy in Anaheim and would certainly bring the enthusiasm his country needs. Pastrnak and Palat both bring a wealth of experience and a winning mentality.

Martin Necas

Tomas Hertl

Pavel Zacha

Filip Chytil

Jiri Kulich

Jakub Vrana

Radek Faksa

Tomas Nosek

Ivan Ivan

David Kampf

Jakob Lauko

Filip Hronek

Jan Rutta

David Jiricek

John Ludvig

Matyas Sapovaliv (AHL)

Stanislav Svozil (AHL)

Luke Dostal

Karel Vejmelka

David Rittich

Adam Klapka (CGY)

Czechia would be able to ice a full complement of forwards with NHL regulars but if any injuries should arise it would not be a surprise to see Flames prospect Adam Klapka make the national team. They are thinner on the blue line at the NHL level and as you can see we have called up two AHL defensemen to round out their roster.

There are 3 legitimate Czechian goalies and while they are not elite options each of those goalies possesses the tools to win games.

This is the international equivalent of a middle of the pack NHL team. They have talent, role-players, and good enough goalies but up against the cream of the crop it will be tough sledding.

There are no other nations capable of building a full roster with NHL talent. However, there are enough nations leftover to create a composite European squad. Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, Belarus, Norway, Austria, France, Netherlands, and Slovenia collectively make up 5.7% of the league. Which is actually a greater share than Russia currently holds.

The bonds that tie these nations together may be questionable but please enjoy the exercise:

Anze Kopitar (C) (SVN)

Leon Draisaitl (A) (GER)

Roman Josi (A) (SUI)

This leadership group benefits from the multinational approach to the team. Team Europe actually has a comparable forward group to Czechia and with Leon Draisiatl they have a game-breaker.

Tim Stutzle (GER)

JJ Peterka (GER)

Lukas Reichel (GER)

Nico Hischier (SUI)

Timo Meier (SUI)

Kevin Fiala (SUI)

Pius Suter (SUI)

Juraj Slafkovsky (SVK)

Martin Pospisil (SVK) (CGY)

Nikolaj Ehlers (DEN)

Marco Rossi (AT)

Moritz Seider (GER)

Jonas Siegenthaler (SUI)

Erik Cernak (SVK)

Martin Fehervary (SVK)

Simon Nemec (SVK)

Emil Lilleberg (NOR)

Frederik Andersen (DEN)

Elvis Merzlikins (LV)

Arturs Silovs (LV)

Ilya Solovyov (BEL) (CGY)

Yegor Sharangovich (BEL) (CGY)

Teddy Blueger (LV)

A few countries were eliminated from the final roster just by virtue of putting together the strongest team. Team Europe would not be a particularly dangerous contender but they would be a competitive opponent to almost any other nation invited.

If this year’s tournament is a first step toward returning to an ongoing World Cup type event it makes sense that the countries chosen were the ones who could easily create a roster. As the NHL looks to expand the event there are going to be issues with pulling from league talent only and I believe they have recognized that. Even the Czechian team struggled to make a complete roster let alone a competitive one.

As far as international hockey goes these tournaments will always be compared to the Olympics. That will continue until another international competition is able to manufacture the same level of passion, pride and arrogance that is felt when winning an Olympic gold medal.

It is year one of this experiment and if the Canada vs. Sweden game proves anything it is that best on best hockey is a delight to watch.