The Washington Capitals will have no representation at the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place later this season in Boston and Montreal. They are one of only two NHL teams that can claim that feat, joining the Seattle Kraken.
Despite being one of the top teams in the NHL 30 percent of the way through the 2024-25 season, no Capitals players were selected by the respective national team managers from Canada, the United States, Sweden, or Finland. The snubs come despite heightened talks about possible involvement from various members of Washington’s roster and hot starts from players born in at least three of the four nations.
The 23 players chosen by both Canada and the US were revealed ahead of Wednesday night’s primetime games involving the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, and Boston Bruins. Team Sweden and Team Finland were revealed earlier in the day.
Team Canada
Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson received the most buzz of any Capitals players before the announcements, but neither was chosen to wear Canada’s red and white.
Wilson had a red-hot start to the year and provides many intangibles to any lineup, which led hockey insider Elliotte Friedman to start calling him “Team Canada Tom Wilson.” Meanwhile, Canada’s non-existent number-one option in net made the three available goaltending roster spots seemingly up for grabs, and Thompson’s 10-1-2 start with the Capitals is near the best in the league.
“We feel very comfortable with all three goaltenders and two of them have won the Stanley Cup,” general manager Don Sweeney told Sportsnet. “And, injuries, you just never know between now and then. There were other guys that were strongly in the mix that, if they get hot, you may be able to tap into.”
| Goaltender | Record | Goals-against average | Save percentage | Goals saved above expected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan Thompson | 10-1-2 | 2.52 | .913 | 8.1 |
| Jordan Binnington | 7-9-2 | 2.87 | .898 | 0.6 |
| Adin Hill | 11-4-2 | 2.67 | .900 | 5.6 |
| Sam Montembeault | 7-10-2 | 2.99 | .901 | 2.1 |
Dylan Strome, who is tied for seventh in the entire NHL in scoring, was also not selected. Strome’s 34 points (8g, 26a) lead a Capitals team that is first in the Eastern Conference.
The same goes for Connor McMichael, whose 11 five-on-five goals are the second-most in the league. McMichael’s 17 five-on-five points are also the fifth-most of any Canadian player, trailing behind just Brandon Hagel (19), Will Cuylle (18), Sam Reinhart (18), and Strome (18).
Team USA
John Carlson was not picked for Team USA despite his involvement in red, white, and blue at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2014 Olympic Games. Carlson has 19 points (3g, 16a) in 25 games for the Capitals this season.
The 34-year-old blueliner leads Washington in average time on ice per game (24:24) by more than four minutes. He has the sixth-highest point-per-game rate (0.76) among US-born defensemen in the league.
Team Sweden
Rasmus Sandin is the only eligible Swede on the Capitals this season and has had the best start to his six-season NHL career. In 25 games, Sandin has recorded 13 points (4g, 9a). Among all Swedish defensemen, he is the fifth-highest scoring.
Washington has been tremendous with Sandin on the ice at five-on-five, seeing a team-high 59 percent of the expected goals during his minutes.
Team Finland
The Capitals do not have a Finnish player in their entire organization. They have not drafted a Finn since taking Oskar Osala in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
The 4 Nations Face Off will replace this year’s NHL All-Star Game, will run from February 12 to 20.
Here’s the full press release from the NHL:
NHL, NHLPA Announce Final Rosters for 4 Nations Face-Off
Federations Select 23 Players Per Team, To Represent Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States At International Tournament in February 2025
NEW YORK/TORONTO (Dec. 4, 2024) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL) today announced the final 23-player rosters selected by the federations, who will represent Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025. Each federation named six players to their rosters in June, and those players are indicated by an asterisk.
Each 4 Nations Face-Off team is comprised of 23 NHL Players (20 skaters, 3 goalies), who are under an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and were on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024.
For a complete listing of each team’s 4 Nations Face-Off personnel, please click here.
The 4 Nations Face-Off is an international tournament staged by the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), featuring NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States facing off in a total of seven games played from Feb. 12 to 20, 2025. Four games will be played at the Bell Centre in Montreal and three games, including the championship game, at TD Garden in Boston. Tickets for all 4 Nations Face-Off games are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.com, the official ticketing partner of the 4 Nations Face-Off, on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Ticketmaster is the only official marketplace of the 4 Nations Face-Off, providing fans with the peace of mind in knowing the seats they buy on Ticketmaster.com and the Ticketmaster app are the seats they’ll get. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be broadcast exclusively in North America by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), TNT Sports, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
All games in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional Round Robin format, under the following points system: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final. For more information, visit https://nhl.com/4nations.
