4 Nations What-If: Canada's 'B' squad, Team Europe, and more

The upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off is giving hockey fans something to look forward to after what will be more than eight years without a best-on-best international men's tournament. However, the slimmed down nature of the event leaves something to be desired.

While it will be a treat to watch Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States do battle, many of the world's best players will be left out. Some of them hail from excluded European countries like Czechia, Germany, and Switzerland, while Russia is prohibited due to its invasion of Ukraine. The ban is certainly warranted, but Russian players make up a large percentage of the NHL's top talent. Meanwhile, Canada and the United States could surely ice secondary squads that would be more than competitive.

All that got us thinking, "What would an expanded 2025 tourney look like?" In terms of Russia, we're imagining a team without questioning the country's rightful exclusion.

Here are our four additional squads:

Canada 'B'

Forwards

Canada's secondary squad is deep down the middle, and we shifted some natural centers (Bedard, Barzal) to the wing to add some extra offensive oomph to the lineup. Lafreniere, Hyman, and Bedard seemed like strong options for the real tournament but will have to settle for big roles on our imaginary roster.

Tavares and Scheifele, despite strong production this season, are stuck in the mushy middle of Canada's big picture. They're not on the same level as the A-team's vaunted McDavid-MacKinnon-Crosby trio, and they don't have the footspeed to help drive play on the wing. Leading the charge on a secondary Canadian squad would be the perfect role for the veteran centers, who have plenty of youth on the wings and down the lineup to help provide offense.

Suzuku, O'Reilly, Johnston, and Thomas can provide sound two-way responsibility. McCann and Verhaeghe are sneaky 40-goal scorers that would offer power-play support and depth scoring.

Defensemen

Canada has a glut of right-handed blue-liners who were left off the 4 Nations roster. For a better lefty-righty balance, we omitted Jared Spurgeon, Brandon Montour, and Aaron Ekblad.

Weegar has played both sides successfully in his career, and he and his partner in this scenario will likely be two of Canada's first call-ups for the real tournament if injury strikes. Doughty is still healing from his preseason ankle fracture and was reportedly strongly considered.

Dobson, Power, and Chabot provide tremendous mobility and puck-moving prowess. Bouchard is regarded as one of the top Canadian snubs and could feasibly move up the depth chart on this roster depending on the coach. However, for a short tournament, we chose more well-rounded rearguards over one whose primary strength is power-play production.

Goaltenders

Is this group that much worse than the trio of goalies Canada actually selected? Certainly not at the moment. Thompson, who's won 10 of 13 starts with a .913 save percentage this season, gets the nod between the pipes in this exercise. His sample size is small, but a career .912 clip over 116 games is nothing to scoff at.

United States 'B'

Forwards

USA's 4 Nations group is arguably the deepest in the tournament, but the forward leftovers resemble more of a world championship squad than a best-on-best. Thompson and Caufield had legitimate cases to make the real squad based on their seasons to date, but the Americans opted for experience and versatility.

It's jarring to see Robertson on a reserve list, but he's still searching for his A-game after a masterful 109-point season in 2022-23. DeBrincat, Boeser, and Keller would be heavily relied upon to create offense among a group of otherwise unproven players.

Defensemen

Sanderson was among the last cuts on defense for USA, and he's the all-situations workhorse of this group. The Senators' stalwart is the most established of a young, high-upside group on the left side of the blue line. Hutson and Vlasic are still finding their footing in the big leagues but ooze potential and appear to be on the fast track to becoming household names.

The right side is full of experience and would theoretically serve as a steadying presence for the young partners. Carlson and Jones are also strong power-play quarterback options, while Pionk is an underrated piece of the Jets' success over the past year-plus.

Goaltenders

Demko may be better served as a third netminder as he gets back to full health, and it's safe to assume he'd be the top choice if he wasn't still recovering from an injury sustained in the first round of the playoffs. But USA would still be in good hands if Demko couldn't play, as Stolarz and Wolf are emerging as fringe Vezina candidates after dominant starts to the season.

Team Europe

Forwards

The top two centers of this hypothetical edition of Team Europe were on the real 2016 World Cup of Hockey side that made an improbable run to the final. The top line as a whole is truly electric, with two of the absolute best game-breakers in the world in Draisaitl and Pastrnak alongside the former's countryman Stutzle, who's blossoming into a game-breaker himself at 22 years old.

Hischier is making a case to play in the top six, but Ehlers and Necas belong on the wings, and an all-Swiss third line would undeniably produce chemistry. Rossi rounds out a rock-solid quartet down the middle, while Protas has played his way onto the team in the midst of a breakout campaign with the Washington Capitals.

There's plenty of skill up front as a whole, and while it may not compare to the forward depth a team like Canada will have at the real thing, it's a shame to see all this scoring talent on the outside looking in.

Defensemen

Another all-Swiss combination is academic on this Team Europe back end. The undisputed No. 1 blue-liner and offensive force Josi pairs up with Siegenthaler, who's one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL this season.

Seider is among the league leaders in average ice time, and he offers some offensive upside of his own. Hronek was ruled out for eight weeks but is on track to return before the start of the tourney, so we left him in.

Goaltenders

Denmark's Frederik Andersen is injured, and the Carolina Hurricanes ruled him out for another 8-to-12 weeks on Nov. 21, meaning he could return around Jan. 16. But if he misses the full 12 weeks, that would bring him back on Feb. 13. The tournament starts one day prior, and he'll be recovering from knee surgery, so he wouldn't have much time to prepare.

Dostal, Vejmelka, and Vladar would form a commendable Czech trio with international experience.

Russia

Forwards

Russia has numerous world-class wingers but not a ton of center depth. Two Hart Trophy candidates flanking a resurgent Malkin on the top line would be legitimately scary, though. Michkov playing alongside his idol, Ovechkin, would be worth watching as well.

Buchnevich might not make the team playing his natural position on the left side given the team's surplus of superior wingers. He's also subpar in the faceoff circle. But unlike many other candidates, he does have plenty of experience taking draws, so he cracks the lineup to fill a need. That also allows the productive Marchenko to make it, even though he's playing on his off-wing.

Defensemen

Russia's defense is stronger on the left side, but there's a bit of flexibility. Gavrikov is a southpaw who's playing quite well on his weak side this season, so he'd be trustworthy there. Zadorov slides over to the right as well, while the struggling but experienced Provorov cracks the roster in a depth role.

Aretm Zub would be a prime candidate for big minutes on this squad but is dealing with a long-term injury.

Goaltenders

Netminding has long been an area of strength for Russia, and this imaginary squad would once again be in good hands in the crease. Shesterkin and Sorokin are both having strong seasons for their New York-based NHL clubs, and the former is motivated to play for a new contract that could make him the richest goalie in league history.

Vasilevskiy beats out his fellow Sunshine State-based countryman, Sergei Bobrovsky, for the final slot. The Tampa Bay Lightning puck-stopper has a lengthy resume and is still playing at an above-average level, unlike his Florida Panthers counterpart.