The 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, with teams of NHL players from Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States competing in a round-robin tournament. This will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.
Though the international tournament is more than seven months away, NHL.com wanted to take an updated look at what the rosters for each country could look like, using a panel of three staff writers and editors to compile a list of 23 players (20 skaters, three goalies) for each team.
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers, NHL.com/fi editor Sami Haapasalo and NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn Roarke unveiled their original Finland roster in February and take another shot at it now with the season over, with some changes. Also, six players (marked by an asterisk) were named to the roster last month.
Here is the Finland projected roster (listed alphabetically by position):
Forwards (12)
Defensemen (8)
Jani Hakanpää, Dallas Stars
Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars*
Henri Jokiharju, Buffalo Sabres
Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars*
Olli Maatta, Detroit Red Wings
Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers
Rasmus Ristolainen, Philadelphia Flyers
Juuso Valimaki, Utah Hockey Club
I’ll go back to what I wrote about three of these defensemen earlier this year. Hakanpaa, Heiskanen and Lindell have chemistry and familiarity. Mikkola is coming off a Stanley Cup championship with the Panthers, where he played on a pair with Dmitry Kulikov. Ristolainen will provide good size (6-foot-4, 208 pounds) and a physical presence. Jokiharju is coming off a good season with the Sabres, where he had a career-high in points (20) and plus/minus (plus-14). Maatta continues to be a consistent and durable defenseman for the Red Wings. He has played in 150 out of a possible 164 games the past two seasons. Valimaki is able to play in different situations. — Myers
Goalies (3)
Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators*
Saros has established himself as one of the NHL’s best goaltenders, and he is the undisputed starter for Finland. The two-time all-star has led the NHL in games played, starts, shots against and saves the past three seasons. Saros can make key saves, calm the whole team down with his confidence and consistency, and even steal games on his own. Luukkonen is coming off a breakout season when he earned the No. 1 spot in Buffalo. The 25-year-old is evolving into a franchise goalie for the Sabres. Backing up Saros will give him valuable experience on the international stage. Husso battled with injuries last season, but he’s now healthy and ready for a comeback. If Husso can find his form again during the first few months of the upcoming season, he’ll be a solid third goalie for Finland. — Haapasalo
