A look at how the Bruins’ participants will begin the 4 Nations Face-Off
For all but four members of the 2024-25 Bruins, the 4 Nations Face-Off means escaping Boston and enjoying some rest-and-relaxation someplace warm.
Given the task ahead of a Bruins team hanging on for dear life in the Eastern Conference playoff race, getting some sort of recharge before a mad dash finish is probably for the best. But for those invited to represent their respective countries, the roles are beginning to take shape following some practices north of the border and with game action around the corner.
On Team Canada, there was a lot of pre-tournament chatter that Brad Marchand could end up playing on a line with fellow Nova Scotian Sidney Crosby. The duo played on a line together the last time we saw Canada in a best-on-best tournament, and it truly felt like they brought the best out of one another.
But it appears that Marchand’s latest run with Team Canada will begin on the third line, with Marchand skating to the left of Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point and the Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis.
If all three players bring their game, this line is going to be a straight-up pain in the ass to play against. Team Canada’s coaching staff has also made it clear that their players had a big say in their lines and pairings, which makes sense when considering that Marchand had previously talked about being ‘most excited’ to play with Jarvis when first asked about it by the NHL on TNT crew back in December.
This will be Marchand’s first time representing Team Canada since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where he had five goals and three assists in six games.
Meanwhile, for the United States, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will begin the tournament skating to the right of the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski on Team USA’s second pairing.
Team USA did suffer a massive loss from their backend before even reporting to Montreal for the start of practices, with Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes pulling himself out of the tournament due to an injury. It’s worth watching to see if his absence leads to a greater offensive role for McAvoy. Team USA’s backend still possesses offensive weapons like Werenski and the Rangers’ Adam Fox, obviously, but the loss of Hughes could lead to an all-hands-on-deck, bombs-away approach from their defensemen.
McAvoy, who will wear an ‘A’ for Team USA, will also be coached by his father-in-law and current Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan in the tournament.
Elsewhere on the roster, Jeremy Swayman figures to be the No. 3 goaltender on the USA depth chart, behind Vezina favorite and Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck and the Stars’ Jake Oettinger. Given the talent in front of him, it’ll be interesting to see if and when Swayman draws into action for the Americans.
And on Team Sweden, it looks like first-year Bruin Elias Lindholm will get the call to anchor Sweden’s fourth line between Gustav Nyquist and Viktor Arvidsson.
Given the talent Sweden boasts down the middle (and barring a move back to the wing), Lindholm was always in line for a bottom-six role on a healthy Team Sweden, and that’s exactly what he’ll get out of the gate. Sweden will almost certainly lean on Lindholm for every key faceoff on his strong side (Mika Zibanejad is Sweden’s other right-shot center option), and that’s a roll that Lindholm will have to relish, as he enters this tournament with 54.1 percent success rate at the dot through 57 games with Boston.
The tournament will get underway Wednesday night when Team Canada plays against Team Sweden, and continue on Thursday with a Team USA vs. Team Finland showdown. Saturday will be a rivalry night for the tourney, too, with Sweden set to go against Finland while the United States plays Canada.
Those four games will take place at Montreal’s Bell Centre before switching down to Boston, where Monday will come with a Canada vs. Finland showdown and United States vs. Sweden game at night.
From there, the championship game will be at Boston’s TD Garden on Thursday, Feb. 20.
