NHL Power Rankings: A new No. 1, plus all the 4 Nations snub talk you can handle
Finding one 4 Nations Face-Off omission from every NHL team.
www.nytimes.com
On Wednesday, the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters were finally revealed and, naturally, we’re going to milk all the content we can out of that news.
After eight years without best-on-best hockey we’ve been extremely deprived — so deprived that a contrived and meaningless four-team cash grab is starting to feel exciting. USA! Canada! Sweden! Finland! Let’s go!
At Power Rankings HQ we racked our brains all night after the reveal to find the perfect 4 Nations angle for this week’s edition. A bold, fresh take no one else has thought of. A theme so daring that it may completely revolutionize coverage of this tournament.
Anyway, here’s one snub from every team.
1. Minnesota Wild, 17-4-4
Last week: 3Sean’s ranking: 1
Dom’s ranking: 1
Notable absence: Kirill Kaprizov
This isn’t a snub in the same way as most of the players on this list, because he is not in the tournament as Russia has faced bans from international competition since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But is it really best-on-best without Kaprizov, the best player in the league this season?
Here’s what a Team Russia might have looked like. Kaprizov and Nikita Kucherov on the same line would’ve been nasty and the Russian blue line is in a much better place than it used to be too. If they were in the tournament, Russia would slot between Sweden and Finland with a plus-124 Net Rating.
Potential Russia lineup
Kirill Kaprizov — Evgeni Malkin — Nikita Kucherov
Artemi Panarin — Pavel Buchnevich — Andrei Svechnikov
Alex Ovechkin — Ivan Barbashev — Valeri Nichushkin
Yegor Chinakhov — Vladislav Namestnikov — Kirill Marchenko
Matvei Michkov
Mikhail Sergachev — Dmitry Orlov
Vladislav Gavrikov — Artem Zub
Alex Romanov — Dmitry Kulikov
Ivan Provorov
Igor Shesterkin
Ilya Sorokin
Andrei Vasilevskiy
2. Carolina Hurricanes, 17-8-1
Last week: 1Sean’s ranking: 3
Dom’s ranking: 2
Snub: Jesperi Kotkaniemi
There’s no denying that Kotkaniemi has had a disappointing career so far after being picked third in 2018. At 24, he still hasn’t proven himself as a top-six player both in his scoring and play-driving ability. He just doesn’t move the needle. Still, to be left off the roster entirely in favor of guys like Joel Armia and Erik Haula feels like a new low. Whether that snub is deserved is in the eye of the beholder.
3. Washington Capitals, 17-6-2
Last week: 4Sean’s ranking: 2
Dom’s ranking: 5
Snub: Everybody
If you thought that the Eastern Conference’s leader in points percentage would’ve snuck someone into the tournament, you thought wrong. Dylan Strome, at the moment, would be the highest-scoring Canadian to stay home. Tom Wilson would’ve made sense on the bottom six. Zach Werenski’s monster season in Columbus might’ve squeezed John Carlson out of the Team USA roster. Logan Thompson, Rasmus Sandin … the list goes on. Guess those guys are stuck going on a mid-February vacation instead.
4. Vegas Golden Knights, 17-7-3
Last week: 5Sean’s ranking: 4
Dom’s ranking: 3
Notable absence: Tomas Hertl
All the Vegas guys who could’ve made it did, so no true snubs here. Hertl will have to watch from home, however, knowing he’d be Czechia’s top-line center. You can find their projected roster below next to their would-be top player (Boston’s David Pastrnak).
5. Toronto Maple Leafs, 16-7-2
Last week: 8Sean’s ranking: 5
Dom’s ranking: 4
Snub: John Tavares
It is a little sad to see Tavares’ Team Canada story likely end here. He wasn’t ready to make the Olympic team in 2010 and was injured before the medal round in 2014. No NHL participation at the 2018 and 2022 Olympics hurts, too. The 4 Nations isn’t the Olympics, obviously, but it is our first taste of best-on-best hockey since the 2016 World Cup. Eight years is a long time to create missed opportunities that the best players of that era won’t get back.
Tavares has been really good for the Leafs this season, scoring at a 38-goal and 76-point pace while outscoring teams heavily at five-on-five. It just wasn’t quite good enough, especially with how the pieces fell in Canada’s bottom six.
Players in their 30s, such as Mark Scheifele, have likely been hardest hit by the lack of best-on-best hockey over the past eight years. (Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)
6. Winnipeg Jets, 19-8-0
Last week: 2Sean’s ranking: 6
Dom’s ranking: 7
Snub: Mark Scheifele
The NHL’s absence from the Olympics has been bad news for everyone, but players in their 30s probably have been hit hardest — many have basically watched their primes come and go without a real opportunity to play best-on-best hockey. Scheifele is their poster boy; he’d almost certainly have been on one (or both) of the rosters in 2018 and 2022. Now, he’s on the outside looking in — and on paper that’s the right call, given his ongoing issues as a five-on-five play driver, but that doesn’t make it an easier pill to swallow.
7. Florida Panthers, 16-9-2
Last week: 9Sean’s ranking: 8
Dom’s ranking: 6
Snub: Carter Verhaeghe
Did Verhaeghe deserve serious consideration for Team Canada? On merit, probably not — good as he is, the competition is stiff. If you value the Fun Factor, though, that’s another argument entirely. He’s got a knack for doing big stuff in big games that could play well in a tournament like this one.
8. New Jersey Devils, 17-9-2
Last week: 6Sean’s ranking: 7
Dom’s ranking: 8
Notable absence: Switzerland
Between Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler, New Jersey has apparently become the unofficial Swiss HQ of the NHL. In other words, expect a big play for Roman Josi at this year’s trade deadline. (Dougie Hamilton, Simon Nemec and a first, who says no?!)
Unfortunately, a Switzerland entry in the tournament was always unrealistic given there are only nine active NHLers. But that won’t stop us from dreaming about the Devils creating their own little Switzerland to compete in a more important tournament that starts in April.
9. Dallas Stars, 16-9-0
Last week: 7Sean’s ranking: 10
Dom’s ranking: 9
Snub: Jason Robertson
All due respect to Matt Duchene, who forced himself into the discussion over the last two months, but Robertson has to be the choice. He picked a heck of a time to play some uninspiring hockey, with scoring rates (0.67 goals per 60, 2.02 points per 60) more than halved from his peak in 2022-23. Team USA’s top six was crowded, though, and Robertson’s game doesn’t quite fit what they were going for further down the lineup.
10. Tampa Bay Lightning, 13-9-2
Last week: 13Sean’s ranking: 11
Dom’s ranking: 10
Notable absence: Nikita Kucherov
Did you know that Kucherov is averaging 10.56 points per 60 on the power play this season? Because he is. Going back to the 2007-08 season, nobody getting regular power-play minutes outside of Edmonton has done that. He’s never been better.
11. Los Angeles Kings, 15-8-3
Last week: 11Sean’s ranking: 9
Dom’s ranking: 13
Snub: Drew Doughty
At the start of the season, you can bet that Doughty’s name was written in pen on Jon Cooper’s roster. Or marker. Or paint. Something that couldn’t be erased. He’d just turned in some of the best defensive work of his career last season, after all. Injuries happen, though, and while Doughty’s rehab from a broken ankle is on schedule, it’s still a little too early to just assume he’ll be ready. As a potential replacement down the line, though? That’s another story.
12. Vancouver Canucks, 13-7-4
Last week: 14Sean’s ranking: 12
Dom’s ranking: 12
Snub: Thatcher Demko
Poor Thatcher Demko. Who knows what would’ve happened if he was healthy enough to start the season on time? Even then, it was always a numbers game between the pipes for the USA. Someone was always going to be the odd one out between him, Connor Hellebuyck, Jeremy Swayman and Jake Oettinger; Demko’s injury unfortunately made the choice a lot easier. On talent, he’s right there.
13. Edmonton Oilers, 14-10-2
Last week: 12Sean’s ranking: 13
Dom’s ranking: 11
Snub: Evan Bouchard
Canada leaving Bouchard at home is by no means a surprise given how they’ve operated in the past with similarly perceived high-risk defensemen (P.K. Subban and Kris Letang come to mind). Still, given the state of the team’s defense corps, it does feel like a misstep considering Bouchard’s all-world offensive ability and cleaned-up defensive game. There’s only one Canadian defenseman that outshines Bouchard with the puck and there was plenty of room for both at the tournament.
Bouchard brings a lot to the table at five-on-five, not just on the power play. Defensively he has his share of blunders, sure, but anyone who watched him in last year’s playoffs knows he’s a big-game player who has greatly reduced the big mistakes that probably give the Canadian front office nightmares. Bouchard was by far Canada’s biggest snub.
14. Boston Bruins, 14-11-3
Last week: 18Sean’s ranking: 14
Dom’s ranking: 14
Notable absence: David Pastrnak
This has to be a real bummer for Pastrnak in particular. The tournament is being held in Boston! That’s just cruel.
Would Czechia be a good team? Absolutely not. But they’ve got some talent and it would’ve been cool to see Pastrnak shine for his country.
Potential Czechia lineup
Pavel Zacha — Tomas Hertl — David Pastrnak
Ondrej Palat — Filip Chytil — Martin Necas
Ivan Ivan — David Kampf — Jakub Vrana
Tomas Nosek — Radek Faksa — Jakub Lauko
Filip Hronek — Radko Gudas
Jan Rutta — David Jiricek
John Ludvig — Andrej Sustr
Libor Hajek
Lukas Dostal
Petr Mrazek
David Rittich
Who knows, maybe Dostal would’ve given his best Jonas Hiller impression to make things interesting? He’s certainly used to it in Anaheim.
15. Colorado Avalanche, 14-13-0
Last week: 10Sean’s ranking: 15
Dom’s ranking: 15
Snub: Joel Kiviranta
Not a lot of options here. We’ll always have Kiviranta’s clutch performance in the bubble — an out-of-nowhere Game 7 hat trick (including the overtime series winner!) against the Avalanche to send the Stars to the third round. It was his first game of the series! Imagine not bringing those heroics to the 4 Nations. For shame, Finland. For shame.
